The Relationship Barrier Deactivation
by sladenoddy
Summary: this is not a new story but one I deemed needed polishing up as it was the first one I have written and I did not then understand how you do the chapters so this got a bit muddled. and the story is about LENNY, (Leonard and Penny).
1. Chapter 1

The relationship barrier deactivation

Chapter 1

All the gang was in 4a one Friday evening and eating takeout together, and Penny was at that moment asking Leonard if he would like another glass of wine, when Sheldon remonstrated with her "Really Penny?, another glass?, think carefully. If you get him drunk, he will only keep pestering you for coitus or find himself being unable to stand upright only to find gravity pulling him unmercifully back towards the hard ground."

Leonard, who had been belittled by Sheldon all day, rounded on him after hearing yet another of Sheldon's comments spluttered angrily, "Sheldon since when have I ever got as drunk as that?, are you crazy?."

Sheldon indignantly replied "No, certainly not. My mother had me tested. No I refer back specifically to a Friday morning. You must remember, Surely?, it was on the Friday, a couple of days or so after you had gone to Kurt's apartment and demanded Kurt pay back the money that he owed to Penny on the previous Tuesday.

I had left my room for my 7:30 am ablutions to see you sitting on my spot and you were in the process of examining all the bruises on your upper torso, which I can only conclude that you received them due to an advanced state of inebriation?." Leonard looked horrified at Sheldon as it was an incident he had very carefully kept to himself.

Meanwhile Penny who until that moment, had only been half listening to Dr Wack-a-doodle suddenly gasped, realizing what Sheldon had said.

The sound of Penny's glass shattering on the floor made them all look up.

Standing there in horror, Penny turned, to Leonard "you didn't tell me about that?"

"It was no big deal" Leonard mumbled in reply.

"No big Deal! You could have been very badly hurt and you say it's no big deal"

Penny remembered the occasion when she had thought that Kurt had had a change of heart and she had gone out on a date with Kurt too on that assumption. But it was all because of Leonard. 'How could I have been so stupid? And Leonard never said a word, My God, He even stood there and watched me go on a date with Kurt', and the more she meditated on the event the more the truth became unbearable for her.

Finally with her eyes brimming with tears, Penny turned opened the door to 4a and fled to 4b slamming the door behind her in her anguish.

"There, you see! you've even upset Penny over your drunken behavior." Sheldon declared triumphantly.

Leonard did not reply at this, his face a mask of anxiety.

Bernadette noting this said quietly to Howard "I'd better go and see if I can talk to her., I know those two, and they are so in love with each other that I am sure if they broke up now both of them would cope very badly with it."

"Yeah I think you're right, I know for sure that Leonard would be an absolute mess if he lost Penny again", Howard whispered back.

She stood up and made her way to 4b tapping on Penny's door. "It's not locked", Penny's muffled voice told her in an angry tone.

Bernadette entered and saw Penny with her back to her standing stiffly arms folded staring out her window. "Leonard please I don't want to talk about it right now" Penny said as she turned towards the door.

"Actually it's not Leonard it's me," Bernadette quietly replied, "Please Penny, don't be angry at Leonard, you know how much he loves you and you know Leonard would do anything to make you happy" Bernadette pleaded.

"I'm not angry at Leonard, I'm angry at myself." Penny sniffed, "he got those bruises from Kurt and never told me. Really if Kurt or Mike or even all the guys I dated in both Nebraska and right here in Pasadena. They would have reminded me frequently how they had put themselves out for me.

But Leonard, He doesn't say anything whatsoever about it, not a single word of how much he had suffered just to help me. And I, What do I do? all I ever do is to hurt him in return. I'm just no good for him that is what I am angry about and I find I can't even tell him I love him, and I am so scared even to have him move in with me let alone set a date for our wedding. And this is what I am so angry about. Please, help me, why can't I love him as I should? When I so very much want to be with him, I know I do", Penny tearfully asked

Bernadette put a comforting hand on Penny's shoulder. "Penny, have you ever known anyone that loves you as deeply as Leonard does? have you?"

"No, are you kidding, all the other jerks I thought I was in love with like Kurt and Mike were only interested in their own selfish interests and I would always end up getting my heart broken"

"But Leonard" Penny went on, "as you have seen tonight, bends over backwards to make me happy". "So why do I feel so afraid to let him into my life? When he is such a wonderful Guy?"

"Bernadette thought for a moment, "Penny do you remember when Leonard asked you out on a date? it was a few weeks after his split from Priya. I saw you that night as you were getting ready for that date. And I have never ever seen you to be so nervous as you were that night, and the most important things on your mind that night was what were the right things you could say to him, and what dress could you wear that would please Leonard the most, and I noticed your eyes were wide with a mixture of longing and excitement. Yes Penny, I saw a woman who was very much in love with a very special guy who had just asked her for a date. I remember a few weeks before when Amy, yourself and I went to a nightclub, and do you remember saying to us that you were going to find yourself a Heine to bite, but when we were at the club, sure you had guys hit on you, but then you proceeded to turn every man jack of them away, and then, when I asked you why you turned them down, do you remember what you said to me?".

Penny shook her head, "Nope I guess I was pretty wasted by then. You will just have to tell me". "You told me that It was due to you seeing the snowflake before we left and you told us that the only Heine you wanted to bite right now was Leonard's," and then when we did get you back here. Amy and I had quite a struggle to stop you going over to 4a to climb into Leonard's bed with him at two o'clock in the morning. I'll tell you, how we never woke Sheldon up I'll never know? And you ended up, I'm afraid, crying yourself to sleep, and all because you couldn't be with Leonard".

"I did?" Penny asked her eyes widening in surprise, but without doubting the veracity of Bernadette's account of Penny's behaviour that night.

"Yup, you sure did", Bernadette confirmed.

"You know during that date with Leonard, he asked me if we were going to get back together, and I had never seen so much longing in a guys eyes as I saw in Leonard's, I mean I know the look of lust, hell I've seen that lots of times, but I just can't explain why, but my heart just felt as if it was leaping inside my chest and I so wanted to shout at the top of my voice yes darling, please oh yes. And yet at the same time I just panicked, I felt so scared, I don't understand? You know on another occasion previously when we were broken up, I drunkenly hammered on his door and demanded sex from him, and I still remember feeling so incredibly happy just being in his arms, but the next morning I just panicked again and I stupidly told him it was a mistake even though the voice inside my head was screaming at me, No!, and then when I saw the hurt on his face, well it near broke my heart, and I felt so awful. Why am I so stupid? I want him so much yet I am so scared inside? Just what is wrong with me?", and then Penny threw herself on her couch crying bitterly.

Bernadette sat and calmly stroked Penny's hair until Penny was able to regain her composure.

"I'm really not an expert in these things Penny, but my suspicion is that you are over sensitive to emotional pain

You have a big heart and subconsciously you think Leonard will hurt you like Kurt or Mike or even guys you dated back home. So you have learnt to put up this barrier to shield you from the heartache. You show us this tough, carefree happy go lucky person, but deep inside your like Julia Roberts in that film all you are is a girl searching for a special boy to love her, but at the same time so afraid that that special boy will hurt her deeply. And I strongly believe Penny that you have found that special boy in Leonard.

Penny I know from listening to Howard telling me things that Leonard had told him. Leonard loves you very much. And as you have discovered tonight he goes to great lengths to make you happy without you even being aware of it. Penny that is so rare today. Look Penny try to imagine you living your life without Leonard. And if you find you truly want Leonard then you are going to have to overcome that fear and only then will you finally be able to allow him to get deep into your heart. And Penny I beg you, no one can do it for you; you are going to have to do it yourself".

"Seriously though Penny when I watch the two of you together, and whenever you look at each other, I don't see lovers, I see best friends, I see soul mates".

"Thanks, You know I don't really have to think about life without Leonard, My God, I know I cried myself to sleep so many times when I thought I had lost him to Priya, man I was hurting so, so bad inside", Penny confessed

"You didn't tell us about that?, my god Penny we could have helped, Amy and me", Bernadette told her.

"I'm sorry but I just couldn't risk it getting back to Leonard, I was the one who screwed up, the one who broke it off, and I didn't want to ruin his chance of happiness with Priya", Penny revealed

"Oh Penny, I'm so sorry, but surely you knew that he wasn't really in love with Priya, because when they did split, he wasn't as half upset as he would have been if he was in love with her you know", Bernadette said comfortingly.

Bernadette then asked Penny "look I will go now and can I send Leonard in to see you; he was very upset, I think as usual for Leonard over thinking things, that he thought that you were breaking up with him?", Bernadette asked.

"Yes please but give me 20 minutes O K to think and to freshen myself up". Penny replied, wiping her tears away with some tp, before hugging Bernadette in thanks. Then Bernadette left to return to 4a.

Penny went to her bathroom and quickly washed her face and combed her hair, then looked in her mirror hoping that Leonard would like what he sees as she inspected her reflection. Then she sat back down on her couch to think.

It was true Leonard was a rare guy indeed. And Penny knew all too well and had been convinced for quite some time too, although she had till now kept it hidden from Leonard, He would be forever the only guy in her life, yes Leonard was and always will be, as far as Penny was concerned, her personal Mr Big. And thence in a state of nervous excitement Penny waited for the love of her life to appear.

On entering 4a, Bernadette beckoned Leonard over, "It's OK, just give Penny 20 minutes, then go and see her, and Leonard don't try to talk or I know you you will just keep rambling on. I beg you, just listen very carefully to what Penny has to say" and she squeezed his arm as she smiled in encouragement "don't worry everything will be alright you'll see."

After waiting 20 minutes, though to Leonard it felt like an eternity as he had checked the time every 30 seconds. Leonard nervously entered 4b to see Penny smiling at him and patting the seat beside her for him to sit down.

Taking his hands in hers Penny though at first with difficulty, fully opened her heart to Leonard, pouring out all her feelings and fears finally revealing to him how she really felt about him and though at first the panic was there, but Penny was determined, and by the time she had finished speaking it had dissipated. Leonard was now and always totally and immovably in her heart just as Penny had always been so in his heart.

Penny locked her door and turning to Leonard she asked him to move in with her for good, as his eyes lit up at her request and the broad smile on his face that was always just for her,

Penny was suddenly a lot happier, now being secure in the knowledge that she had made the right decision.

And after a passionate, loving kiss they hugged each other tightly for several minutes, before they returned to 4a and everyone noticed a subtle difference in Penny the huge smile on her face as she looked at Leonard and the twinkle in her eyes spoke volumes that something had changed for the better.

"Well I see you have managed to deactivate the relationship barrier then" Howard noted.

"Howard, you really are such a nerd at times" said Bernadette nudging him in the ribs. Though the loving smile on her face betrayed her real feelings towards her husband.

And later that night as Penny in an ecstasy, lay spooned in front of Leonard, the fingers of one hand intertwined with his, she sighed happily at the realization of how so right it felt to be snuggled up like this, to the most wonderful guy she could ever hope to meet.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **Unpleasant news**

Last Night

Penny groaned and glanced at her clock, wincing at the pain in her head. It was 2:15 AM, Leonard had returned home just 45 minutes ago. He had been working long hours on an important experiment for the last two weeks, and Penny had become quite stressed at hardly seeing him lately. She groaned again why did she always drink when she was stressed, an image in her memory came of the night that she became so stressed , that she had then filled a measuring jug with wine to stop the empty feeling that she had had when Leonard was dating Priya and thence came a strong desire within herself to see him.

She had taken her laptop over to 4A in pretense to get the WiFi password. only to find out from Sheldon that Leonard was now living with Priya at Raj's. the tears brimmed once again as she recalled the sickening empty feeling at hearing this news only to drink more alcohol and then waking up naked beside Rajesh, only to be caught later by Leonard as she attempted to tiptoe out.  
The pain at causing Leonard hurt was still strong within her even now, especially when she remembered lamely saying "it's not what it looks like" before fleeing in shame and guilt.  
In spite of Raj confessing that they had not had sex she still drank to nullify the grief she felt at hurting Leonard, and it still made her very angry with herself for all the times she hurt him.

Penny gets unpleasant news

It was on a girls night with Amy and Bernadette on the Wednesday evening a week ago. And straight away Penny noticed Bernadette seemed rather tense, so Penny took advantage of Amy's bathroom break and asked Bernadette if anything was wrong. As Penny, still thankful for Bernadette's help with Penny's commitment issues was keen to repay the favour and help her friend.

Bernadette at first seemed too nervous of Penny to say what was up. But she decided that Penny was her friend and she really ought to know.

"Well, you see Penny, Howard told me last night that Stephen Hawking is planning another trip to the North sea and also a couple of months in the Barents sea, so they will be going for a total of four months".

"What?, are you kidding me?", Penny interrupted, "Don't tell me, I bet he's asked for Leonard again, Hasn't he?", Penny asked Bernadette, as Penny Immediately began fretting over being apart from Leonard for four months.

Bernadette felt her her own stress levels begin to rise as Penny's voice had risen an octave. "I'm sorry Penny but Howard told me that Professor hawking had rung him and asked for Leonard's cellphone number.

Penny said nothing for a few minutes as she was feeling stunned at this news. Suddenly with an "Excuse me" to Bernadette she made her way rapidly over to 4a and hammered violently on the door.

"Really Penny how can you expect me to work on the rules for my new game, three person chess when you seem intent on causing a ruckus", Sheldon told her as he opened his door.

"shut up Sheldon. Now tell me did you know about another trip to the north sea coming up?", Penny demanded fiercely.

"why yes of course, Leonard and I were discussing it last week, and would you believe it but they are taking my labradoodle Alex from me, and sending her on the expedition, honest the effrontery of them. now who on earth am I supposed to get to do all the menial tasks that will need to be carried out. I mean I would've asked Leonard but..., well really she comes banging on my door then suddenly leaves in a huff while I am still speaking", and shaking his head at Penny's rudeness he closed his door.

Penny burst into her apartment so suddenly that it startled the two women who were nervously waiting for her to return.

Penny without hesitation immediately opened another bottle of wine and after quickly offering a top up to Amy and Bernadette, who both declined, Penny by now very stressed over the news, immediately began drinking from the bottle.

"Hey Penny!, go easy, we have already consumed 2 bottles tonight between the three of us. And too much alcohol can do irreparable damage to ones liver", Amy informed her.

"I can't help it Amy, God I feel so stressed I've got to do something, what do I do?, I feel as if I could climb the walls right now", Penny replied before taking another hefty swig.

"Penny, you really need to talk to Leonard and find out for sure", Bernadette advised.

"I don't know, wouldn't I be guilty of holding back his career?, wouldn't he think the same?", Penny replied before once again decanting the bottle straight to her mouth.

"but at the same time I know I just can't be without him for four months, especially now Sheldon's informed me that Alex has also been assigned to the project", Penny told them before again raising the bottle.

"I'm sure you have nothing to worry about, you know Leonard loves you very much", Amy reminded her.

"Yeah but how would he cope with being holed up in the small confines of a boat for four months with her", and at this Penny drained her bottle before collapsing on her couch, before looking round for something more to drink.

Amy and Bernadette did not know what to do, Penny was getting more and more wasted by the hour.

She really needed to talk to Leonard and they could not do it for her.

Amy suggested they talk to Leonard but Bernadette reminded her that Penny might not be too pleased with them both if Leonard stayed and damaged his career prospects.

So with them reaching a seemingly insurmountable obstacle, they decided to leave as Penny was by now snoring drunkenly on her couch.

 **The Present**

Leonard Wearily arrived at 4b at 11:45 pm. He was sick of staring at mountains of data on a computer screen and shuddered at knowing he would be doing the same thing for the rest of the week. But he was sure the answer was in that data somewhere, he had no choice he just had to carry on and find it.

He put down his work-bag and removed his hoodie before becoming aware of the snoring from Penny.

"Well Honey, looks like you all had another successful girls night then, I wouldn't have minded trading places with you this evening that's for sure", he said half to himself and half to a comatose Penny once again worse the wear for drink, through her stress.

Picking her up off of the couch, he unsteadily made his way over to the bedroom while wondering to himself how Penny would have coped with staring at a computer screen all day, then once he was in the bedroom he laid her on the bed before stripping her down to her underwear then undressing himself he got in beside her and pulled the covers over them both and immediately fell asleep despite Penny's drunken snoring in his ear.

Penny awoke with a blinding hangover and an extremely foul taste in her mouth, then turning to peer at her clock through half open eyelids, she muttered an oath as it read 11:15 am. Then gratefully spying the water and tablets by her clock she carefully sat up and took the tablets and drank the water, feeling thankful to Leonard as it took away the foul taste a little. She then phoned in sick telling Dan that she had a migraine, (Well it certainly feels like one, so it was a little like the truth after all).

And not feeling ready to get up she lay there and mulled over her situation, but alas she only found she had upped her stress levels again as she failed to come up with an answer. She lay there and just could not get the visions of Alex hitting on Leonard again, and worse still she imagined them making out and worse during that trip so to say Penny was in bits by now would be an understatement. It was bad enough Penny's agonizing over whether to speak to Leonard or not over the past week or more, but finally her tiredness won out but to her chagrin she woke up to find Leonard had already left.

Penny returned home and sadly once again hit the bottle, so by the time Leonard had arrived home she had consumed a bottle and a half of wine. Then in spite of her inebriated state Penny decided to see if Leonard would mention Hawking's trip.

"Hey, how was it at the Lab today?", she began, her tension evident in her voice. And hoping Leonard would then talk to her about a certain expedition.

"It was OK, nothing special" Leonard replied quietly, still mulling over the data inside his head but not without Penny's notice "thinking of four months with Alex I'll bet", she thought.  
And at that very thought all Penny's fears and insecurities came to a head and Penny's outrage burst forth.

 _"So when the hell are you going to tell me about the north sea trip then?"_ Penny screeched.  
"Oh you've heard about that then" said Leonard a bit taken aback "I wasn't going to say anything" he said  
Penny shrieked, _"yes I'll bet you weren't, or to inform me that Alex was also going either I suppose"._  
Leonard moved towards Penny despite her resistance and put his arms around her "Alex is going because I won't be, I turned it down", he informed her "that English Doctor, Doctor Stephen Jones, you know him, well he's on loan from Cambridge university for a while. And he is going in my stead and he personally asked Dr Gabelhauser if he could have Alex as his assistant, I didn't tell you because I thought you would be sure to fret about holding me back in my career". "also", he giggled, "Sheldon was not a little annoyed at losing his labradoodle for four months"

"Oh" , Penny gasped not hearing his comment about Sheldon, suddenly finding she needed support from the arm of her couch, as she was feeling weak with Relief (or nearly two bottles of wine, or both) and now feeling a little foolish for over reacting, "but I was so sure you would be going?", she said, but feeling absolutely elated inside herself that he was staying put.

"My Darling Penny, You see I could not bear to be parted from you now, you see everything has changed with us moving forward as a couple, with us now living together, everything has changed now that you have overcome your fear of committing to me and also you have even set the date and started to plan our wedding;  
So now I need to make any decisions now for ' _ **us**_ '; 'we' are now my number one priority and I will decide whatever it takes that will make 'us' stronger as a couple, and a whole four months away will not do that, that is why I turned it down".

Penny finally giving way to tears sobbed with relief and held him tightly telling him over and over again how much she loved him and how precious to her he was.

Later that night In bed, with Penny spooning in front of Leonard, She moved her hand onto Leonard's intertwining their fingers and thought about Leonard's statement to her;  
"he's right, we are a committed couple now and how true that is for I know Leonard is so important to me, and vowing to herself that for her too Leonard would always take priority and she will also always make the decisions that would make their partnership stronger

Then she turned to face him kissing him despite him sleeping.  
alerting Leonard who asked if she was OK in reply Penny begged " just hold me close please honey, I love you so much", she sniffed.

Leonard held her tightly to him and told her "Listen, after looking at a computer screen for two weeks, I'm going to take the rest of the week off, is there anywhere you would like to go my love".  
Penny nuzzled her cheek against his, "I don't mind, just as long as I'm with you" she whispered lovingly to him", then added, "The beach would be good and perhaps a picnic too, especially when it's with you", she added.

And at that she snuggled closer in Leonard's arms and slept soundly and dreamed she was spending a wonderful time on the beach with her Leonard.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Beach**

Chapter 3

Penny bounced out of bed and rushed to look out of her window, then squealed with delight as she saw it was an absolutely beautiful day that morning. Excitedly she rushed into her bathroom to have her shower, for today she was going take Leonard up on his offer and go to the beach.

Leonard awoke to the sound of Penny's raucous singing as she murdered her favourite song by Beyonce. But in spite of the discordant "singing", coming from the bathroom Leonard smiled, he would be spending the week with his Penny, and not even her "singing" could break him out of his joy.

Penny rushed, still soaking wet with a towel on her head and kissed Leonard, then hugged him tightly as she encouraged him to get washed and changed. Then while Leonard had his shower. Penny quickly emptied out her wardrobe and drawers and went through her clothes, which were now all piled on top of the bed, to find her bikini. Then after getting dressed she got a few things together that she would need for the day, once Leonard had his shower, then he too got changed, (with some difficulty it must be said to find his clothes after Penny had buried them with hers).

"Leonard!; we are going to the beach not the mall. Come on sweetie put some shorts on and lose that hoodie, it's nice and warm outside you know", Penny declared, her hands on hips, in disgust at Leonard's beach attire.

"I haven't got any, Leonard told her, I seemed to have lost the ones we bought last time", Leonard sheepishly informed her.

"Wonderful", was Penny's surprising reply, "Now I get to go clothes shopping as well", she added brightening even more at the prospect of doing two of her favourite things on the same day.

Leonard then moved to put some coffee on but Penny stopped him, "no need sweetie we'll buy some on the way", stepping outside 4b as she spoke, and then they left behind Leonard's hoodie to join the pile of clothes on the bed

As Penny knew the way to all the beaches she jumped into the driving seat then she drove Leonard's car along North Los Robles avenue. And just as the last time she had driven them to the beach, She made her way first to Santa Monica and Wilshire Blvd where they stopped at a beach supplies store. This time Penny was pleased to find that the mean-minded shop assistant she had encountered last time was nowhere to be seen and Penny quickly headed for the clothes and began picking out several pairs of shorts and handed them to Leonard and to her great delight entered the cubicle with him to help him try them on.

Penny's attempts to help Leonard though resulted in a rather steamy make-out session that left them both breathless. And it was with great reluctance that they had to curtail their exercise lest things got too noisy (especially Penny, as cries of yee-haw and Oh God were bound to bring unwanted attention upon them.)

And after purchasing three pairs of shorts for Leonard and a couple of flowing tops, three wraparound skirts, two pairs of crocs, sunglasses and a broad brimmed hat for Penny but this time thanks to Penny's job as a salesperson, on her card this time. They then made their way to the door where to her delight Penny spotted the sour faced shop assistant and said to her in passing, "You're too late, we've had some great fun this time".

Penny, then headed for the delicatessen and purchased some food to eat on the beach and also a six pack of Dr Pepper. Then she continued her journey and this time Leonard guessed where she was headed, and eventually Penny turned into the now familiar car park for El Matador beach then they carried their beach things and food and drink, and made their way down the rocky path to the beach.

The beach was not as busy as the others and Leonard brightened visibly as he remembered that when they came there last time that they had a very interesting time in the sea back then. And he wondered if Penny was up for a repeat

Penny removed her top and shorts displaying her Bikini which again she wore underneath for expediency and Leonard this time without dissent removed his T-shirt then after applying sun tan lotion on each other they settled down to sunbathe. At first Penny just could not seem to get comfortable until she had moved towards Leonard and laid her head on his chest with Leonard's arm around her. And it seemed that with the pleasant body contact between the two soul-mates, as well as the sea air and the warm sun they quickly dozed off.

Unfortunately they awoke nearly three hours later with Leonard discovering a white Penny head shaped patch of untanned skin on his chest while Penny had a Leonard shaped arm of untanned skin across her upper right arm. Penny giggled, nothing could break her reverie today as long as she was here with Leonard.

As they ate their picnic their conversation, instead of the last time, being about Penny's past was about their future together and as they talked the thrill of being together for the rest of their lives filled them both with ecstasy. They talked of how many children they wanted and Penny declared, "I'm not putting this body through three children Hofstadter", she said seriously but she could not hold the charade for long and collapsed int laughter at the stunned look on Leonard's face. "Sorry sweetie, I don't mind, as many as you want", Then after some time had passed after eating they exchanged that special look and hand in hand they headed for the sea.

"Wow it was even better than last time", Leonard declared in disbelief after they had returned to the beach.

Penny smiled, she felt so fulfilled, and so at peace, somehow making love in the sea with Leonard was so extra special, and this time Penny now knew why. She was in love.

As they were this time in no hurry they sat in the back seat of the car after leaving the beach in the late afternoon.

"This is so wonderful, I don't want to leave here ever", Penny declared, as she pulled the tab on her Dr Pepper

"What?, you mean this car park?", Leonard teased. "No, you know what I mean", Penny stressed giving him a nudge, "just being together on the beach, driving here, in the store. Being with you it makes everything special" , Penny told him. And Leonard seeing how large her beautiful eyes had become tenderly kissed her, "I know, I feel the same way, as long as you're with me everything's just wonderful". They remained there until the stars appeared in the heavens, then they returned to the beach and made love again.

They returned to the car where Leonard noticed that Penny looked a little downhearted to be returning home and she would look wistfully towards the beach. Leonard had seen enough and getting into the driving seat he drove, not for home but to a hotel where they stayed until the Friday. "Leonard!, I haven't got much to wear and I have no underwear at all", Penny reminded him as they parked up at the hotel.

"That's a problem?, seems fine to me", Leonard said wiggling his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

"Leonard, I don't want everyone else to see, please", Penny pleaded.

Leonard assured Penny that the next morning they could go clothes shopping again.

"Wow Dr Hofstadter, I think I really like take charge Leonard, and clothes shopping tomorrow to boot it sounds great", Penny told him as they entered the hotel.

After an excellent meal and a drink they retired to their room where Penny solved the problem of underwear by rinsing out her bikini in the bathroom before hanging it up to dry for the next morning. And later as they lay snuggled up together in bed, Penny thought back to the wonderful day she had spent with her Leonard. And looked eagerly forward to the next few days with him. "It's going to be perfect, I Just know it will", she thought. While Leonard was wondering if he dared to return the favour and assist Penny to pick out her clothes in the changing booth tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 4

**Crash**

 **Chapter 4**

Leonard felt on top of the world to be leaving Cal Tech on a fine sunny Saturday afternoon. He had popped in briefly to Cal-tech and to his joy he had finally found the data he was looking for.

It was really turning into a great week, after he had spent a few days with Penny which to Leonard's joy, had seemed to have brought the couple even closer if possible. Besides that Sheldon was in Texas using up some Vacation time or he would have only insisted on accompanying Leonard to Cal_Tech. it felt really good to have the radio on and a window wound open and to put the icing on the cake a favourite song of Leonard's had began playing on the radio.

He turned north heading for a florist near E Orange Grove Blvd which Bernadette had recommended for the best flowers, and thinking of his beautiful Penny's smile as he presents them to her later, before taking her out to dinner in the evening..

Carl eased the ache in his back and shoulders then loaded up the pick up truck with the tools and materials from the roof repair job on a house they had just finished.

His workmate, who didn't like working for a living much, but Carl was paying big and it was cash in hand to boot, as Carl was in a mighty hurry to get the job finished before Monday

He then carelessly threw some the assorted garbage and materials on to the top of the pick-up; then the two guys mounted up with a "Well, that's us done for the day, now for a beer" from Carl who was in a hurry to get home as it was bowling night for him, and they drove off with a start trying to catch the lights as they were showing green, and dislodging some of the waste onto the road in the process.

Half an Hour Later Dr Leonard Hofstadter was driving along and began slowing for the lights, then smiling with glee and speeding up as they then turned to green, promptly running over the waste deposits picking up a couple of screws in the sidewall of his near side front tyre in the process, causing a blow-out.

This then violently forced the vehicle to veer towards the sidewalk, mounting it and finally hitting a tree causing some frontal damage to the vehicle.

Though he had managed to slow the careering car to 10 MPH, Leonard (being short of stature), hit the still inflating airbag which forced his head backwards receiving a blow to the back of his cranium due to a heavy flashlight which had been lying on the back seat.

A few bystanders waited , fully expecting the driver to exit the vehicle in order to inspect the damage to his car;

But the driver remained motionless, still slumped over the steering wheel.

At 2011 Los Robles In apartment 4b an hour later, Penny having had her shower, was still feeling very happy after her little holiday with Leonard, and she was just going to put on Leonard's favourite dress for him for the dinner Leonard was taking her to later that evening, when she was interrupted by her phone ringing.

She checked the caller I.D. then seeing that it was her mother and accepted the call.

"Hi Mom can't talk for long as Leonard's taking me out to dinner tonight; How are you?".

"Yeah I'm really looking forward to tonight", Penny told her

"It was so great, I had such a wonderful time with him that I never wanted it to end", Penny replied on the subject of her week with Leonard.

"Just tell Dad, Leonard has been treating me like a Princess, yeah he really has, It's no wonder I love him".

"You would like us to come down to you soon?, OK, That would be great, I'll talk it over with Leonard and let you know when we can come down, OK?",

"OK Mom , I love you too, and send my love to Dad too", and Penny ended the call

she put on her robe and began to paint her nails when she was interrupted by a knock at the door.

She reached to open the door and was about to berate Leonard for forgetting his key and being over half an hour late,

When She was stunned into silence by the appearance of a uniformed officer from the Pasadena PD

"Are you the partner of Dr Leonard Hofstadter Ma'am", he asked

Penny Answered in the affirmative, and suddenly feeling very anxious about what else he was about to say.

He informed her of the details of Leonard's accident and that he had been taken to the emergency care center in Pasadena.

Penny thanked the officer then closed the door intending to drive to the center she quickly threw on some sweats but not being able to locate her car keys she flew into a blind panic, wanting to get to Leonard as fast as she could but not being able to get there without her keys.

After turning out a couple of drawers and scattering possessions in her wake she saw them on the side table by her bed next to the snowflake Leonard had given her, without knowing why she picked both keys and snowflake up together and put them in her purse, then running out into the hall and slamming her door behind her. She began to descend the stairs thinking to herself that just when she needed Sheldon he was spending some of his enforced vacation time in Texas for a few days, and nearly running into Amy as she ascended the stairs.

"Hi Bestie, you're in a mighty hurry, where...", but Penny cut her off quickly, and tearfully began telling her what had happened.

"I'll come with you if you wish" Amy informed her noticing the very distressed state Penny was in.

Penny nodded tearfully and they made their way to Amy's car, As Amy told her in Penny's emotional state right now, it would not be good for her to drive.

Penny entered the trauma care dept and headed for the reception, upon giving hers and Leonard's name she was told to sit in the waiting area and that shortly a Doctor would come along and give her the details of Leonard's current condition. She was also given a clipboard and some forms so she could fill in Leonard's details.

Penny nervously completed the forms then handed them back to reception.

Amy tried to strike up a conversation with Penny giving her all the details of the conversation she had shared with Sheldon on the phone last night, although she knew Penny wasn't listening to her at all.

Two hours later a doctor came and informed her that Leonard had had an emergency operation to relieve the pressure and to stop the bleeding in the brain and he was now in the ICU.

Penny begged him if she could see her Leonard, but was told she could only see him through the window, in order to keep any infection in the ICU to an absolute minimum.

Then keeping tight hold of Amy's hand she walked down the corridors to see Leonard.

Upon seeing him connected up to various equipment & drips and unable to even hold his hand, it was just too much for Penny to take in, suddenly, unable to cope with the horrible nightmare she found herself in she collapsed sobbing with grief, and the corridor became filled with the sound of the great racking sobs from a very devastated Penny.

Finally after a supreme effort, Amy managed with the aid of a couple of nurses to get Penny, still sobbing and wailing into her car,

Amy decided to drive to Bernadette's as it would not be good for Penny right now to be alone.

When Bernadette heard about Leonard, pangs of guilt assailed her knowing it was herself that had told Leonard about that particular florist as the flowers their were particularly fine, especially when Amy puzzled over the fact that Leonard's crash was in the opposite direction to Penny's apartment than he would have been if he was coming from Cal Tech,

Upon seeing Penny's troubled face at this revelation from Amy; Bernadette thought she ought to come clean about the florists.

It was a huge mistake to reveal that information to Penny at that moment, as Bernadette told Howard later, for Penny it was the last straw . Yet again Leonard had got hurt in his attempt to make her happy. And Penny Just lost it big time and categorically refused to stay, leaving with Amy no option but to take Penny Back home.

As soon as Amy returned home, she rang Sheldon to inform him about Leonard's accident.

Then Amy had just changed the topic to ascertaining the time his train would arrive when Sheldon Interrupted her "You Mentioned that he was hit on the back of the cranium by a flashlight?".

"Yes Sheldon that's exactly what I said?" Amy just sat there stunned at what Sheldon said next. Then demanded an explanation from him, saying, "What do you mean that you're never coming home ', Sheldon?.

Over the next three days they all took turns to check on Leonard but there was still no change in his condition, and strangely no sign of Penny at all?.

"I went to Sheldon's apartment he had ordered me to check on his ants while he was away but there were no lights on in Penny's apartment , I did knock but could get no answer at all from her, maybe she has gone home to her parents ?". Amy suggested

Bernadette looked thoughtful "I don't think so Amy, you know how much she loves Leonard?, I mean I saw them both yesterday when they returned from the beach and I have never seen them look so happy as they were", and at that Bernadette began to cry.

The next day Amy left for Texas to find out why Sheldon was reluctant to return to Pasadena.

While a worried Bernadette still not receiving any word from Penny let herself into 4a with Amy's key, then retrieving Penny's Key from the bowl by the door walked across the hall to Penny's apartment

Then on getting no answer at all to her knock she entered.

Straight away she could see that things were very very wrong Penny was sat on her couch staring into space still dressed in the clothes she wore four days ago and held tightly in her hands was Leonard's snowflake.


	5. Chapter 5

****Falling apart****

 ** **Chapter 5****

Bernadette hurriedly retrieved her phone from her purse and called Howard.

"Hi, and how is my little Cherie", Howard asked her in the most corny fake french accent he could possibly come up with.

"Howard I need you here. Right now, I'm at Penny's, Howard there's something wrong with her, and I don't know what to do", Bernadette told him, now near to tears.

"Sure Honey I'm on my way", he replied, at once alarmed at what could possibly be wrong for Bernadette to be so upset.

Howard stuck his neck round the door of Raj's office.

"Hey Buddy I think we need your help, Bernadette's found Penny,", he pleaded".

"She's found her?, where was she?", Rajesh asked, wondering where Penny had gone.

"Wow, it's just eerie, apparently she was in her apartment all along", Howard told him, his eyes wide in disbelief.

"OK dude let's go see what we can do". Raj responded, immediately getting up to leave with Howard.

Bernadette amazed that Leonard's accident could affect Penny so, spent the time waiting for Howard by talking to Penny in spite of her receiving absolutely no response from her at all, she was just the same, just sitting there and gazing into space.

She looked round the room, two drawers with their displaced contents strewn across the floor while on the other side of the room a pile of clothing had been upset joining the same level as the drawers.

Mute evidence of the frantic state of Penny's mind over the accident, she thought.

She put her hand over Penny's hands, that were still holding the snowflake tightly, and gave them a friendly squeeze then seeing the snowflake and Penny's blank stare, she burst into tears.

 **Texas**

Amy quickly grew tired of Sheldon's odd facts about the salamander, a tactic that he often used to avoid unpleasant truths

"Sheldon will you just stop this jibber-jabber and tell me what is the problem with you returning to Pasadena?", she testily demanded.

Sheldon turned to her and seeing her frustration with him said "Of course, for you see the flashlight was mine, It was I who insisted most firmly that Leonard carry it in his car at all times in the case of emergencies as per the roommate agreement", then stricken, he assumed the foetal position on the couch.

Amy sighed placing her hand on his shoulder, "You weren't to know that that would happen Sheldon, Why didn't Leonard put it in the trunk?".

"Come on Sheldon Please, Penny and Leonard really need us now, we just have to be there for them, because they are our friends Sheldon and they need our help", she reasoned.

Sheldon looked at her "you're right of course aid in an emergency is also written into the roommate agreement".

They then made plans to return to Pasadena the next morning.

 **4B**

Howard, Raj and Bernadette discussed what they should do for Penny, all three visibly shaken at her condition.

"She hasn't been right for a few months now you know dude", Raj opined.

"how can you tell that?, Penny,s always been, well just Penny", Howard questioned

"Hey!, I'm more sensitive to these things than you are", Raj responded

Howard about to retort was interrupted by Bernadette who told him about the talk she had with Penny, after the time Penny stormed out over finding out that Kurt had beaten up Leonard.

I thought that she would be OK after that, and she seemed so happy when Her and Leonard returned from their short vacation but obviously Leonard's accident was just too much for her to cope with.

"Yeah"Howard said, then turning to Raj, "Hey do you remember Leonard telling us once at break that Penny went crazy when she though he would be going on Hawking's expedition?.

"That's right Dude I remember that, my God we always thought Leonard was the one to overthink things, but it seems Penny was just as bad", Raj confirmed.

Bernadette Joined in,"Yeah, I remember Penny confessing to me about feeling almost hysterically stressed over Leonard when she thought he was going to go on the North sea trip with Alex", then Bernadette began to cry, Oh Howie!, I feel awful, Penny's been falling apart and I haven't even noticed and been there for her".

Howard put his arm around Bernadette and hugged her,"it's OK honey, let's see what we can do for her now.

After calling a Doctor they then called Penny's parents to inform them of Penny's condition over Leonard's accident.

Wyatt, Penny's Father thanked Bernadette for calling them, and told her they will be leaving as soon as they can for Pasadena, and if they could take care of Penny in the meantime. Bernadette cried again at hearing the distress in his voice.

Meanwhile Wyatt fretted in thought, "He liked Leonard and had seen for himself the adoration Leonard had for his Daughter, The first guy that had ever shown Penny that complete love. And It was no wonder Penny had fallen so deeply for him as Wyatt was sure Leonard was the only Guy Penny had ever met, who had ever shown such unselfish devotion to his daughter as Leonard had.

Therefore He was as worried for Leonard just as much as he was for Penny, If Penny was like this now he didn't think she would ever recover if Leonard died. "Hang in there son, I beg you just hang in there", Wyatt silently pleaded in his mind.

Shortly afterwards a doctor arrived and after carefully assessing Penny he informed them of the need for Penny to have professional help at a psychiatric hospital. Then an hour later two ambulance men came and took Penny away, Bernadette went in with her after putting together some of Penny's clothes, While avoiding to pack Penny's favourite tops and dresses in case they would bring back too many bad memories for her, if she recovered that is, and Bernadette felt her tears ready to spring forth as she wasn't too sure if Penny ever would.

The next day, while Bernadette had gone to the hospital to see Penny, Howard and Rajesh had gone to the airport to pick up Penny's parents.  
"I can't get my head around this, Leonard in a coma and Penny in a sort of psychological coma, it's just too weird for words", Howard observed to Raj  
"I know dude everyone is having a hard time dealing with it, it is so peculiar, this is so not good ".  
Eventually Penny's parents met them and despite them being travel stained and weary insisted that they go straight to see Penny first.

Bernadette had sat with Penny still talking to her hoping to make a connection with her, but with  
no success.  
a nurse entered the room to check on Penny calling a greeting to Bernadette as she entered.  
"How has she been? , any signs of her returning to normal?" Bernadette asked hopefully.  
"I'm afraid there has been no signs at all", she replied, "why does she hold that thing so tightly?, we had to wait until she was asleep before we could get it off of her so we could wash & dress her later and then she screamed blue murder for it to be given back to her when she woke up".  
Bernadette then explained how Leonard had given it to her upon his return from the arctic.  
The nurse's eyes brimmed as she held a hand up to the side of her face.  
"Oh my, that is the most romantic thing that I have heard of in a long time", she said, wiping her eyes.

Just then a knock on the door announced the arrival of Penny's parents.  
Bernadette updated them on Penny's condition then left to give them some privacy with their Daughter, joining Howard & Raj in the corridor.

"you look real bushed honey", Howard said to his wife after kissing her on the cheek  
"yes I am, before I came here I stopped at Penny's place and tidied through as her parents will be staying there, as penny must have been so distressed it was in quite a state.  
"What's the bag for?" Howard inquired.  
"it's Penny's clothes, the ones she was wearing when she came here they had some difficulty to dress her because she would not let go of Leonard's snowflake, I just thought I'd wash them for her".  
" holy shmoly, I just can't believe this has all happened", Howard responded.  
"Well why don't we all get a coffee and a bite to eat while we wait, I think they will be a little while in there yet". suggested Raj.  
Ten minutes after they returned from getting their coffee, Penny's Parents entered the corridor. Penny's mother was understandably very upset.

Wyatt just looked absolutely shocked to the core, "I can't believe it, we talked all about her days as a child, all the little incidents and events she had growing up, even Moondance her pet pig, but nothing, not even a flicker of interest did we get from her, it was like she was locked in her own little world. He looked desperately towards them "do they have any idea at all how soon Leonard will recover?, I was kinda hoping that he can talk to her and perhaps get her back into this world?.  
Howard gloomily replied, "I don't know sir, they just keep telling us to give him time, but how long, I don't think they really know. we all so much want Penny and Leonard back to how they were".  
Penny's mother then squeezed her Husband's arm saying "Come on Wyatt let's make our way to Penny's place now and get cleaned up.

Amy finally pulled up in front of Sheldon's apartment , It was Late evening by now and Sheldon quite vociferously complained to Amy that she did not go straight to the trauma center to see Leonard.

Amy tiredly explained that it was just too late now, and they went upstairs to 4A, and Amy looked sadly at the door of 4B while Sheldon searched for his key.

Two days later and still with no improvement to either Leonard or Penny. Bernadette, Howard and Raj were sitting in 4A discussing what it was that could possibly be wrong with Penny.

"Amy you know about things like this have you any idea what's wrong with Penny?", Bernadette asked sadly staring at the two empty seats by Sheldon's end of the couch.

"I've been thinking about that", Amy answered her "when I brought Penny to your place and you told her about Leonard and the florists, I don't believe she was really angry at you, you see, we know how Penny greatly regrets all the times she hurt Leonard and now he was hurt when he was on his way to do something nice for her, and now she feels responsible for his accident, also we know how she feels about him and in a sense now Leonard isn't here the world for her has become an unfriendly place and she no longer wishes to be here without Leonard".

"wow you know I told Leonard once, shortly after Penny moved in to 4b that he had no chance with her. I never ever thought in a million years that Penny could love Leonard as much as she does?", Howard murmured.

"I know as far as our Penny's concerned, Leonard means the world to her. It's no wonder she is in the condition she's in now, I guess", Bernadette considered, then added, " So that kind of explains why Penny has retreated to what is to her a much better place and is now living in her own wonderful little world, safe with her memories of Leonard in her mind", Bernadette noted.  
"Exactly right", Amy agreed.

"So what we really need is Leonard to talk to her, to convince her to come back",  
"That's a big problem when he is still in a coma", Raj noted  
"You hit the nail right on the head there, Buddy", Howard answered him sadly.


	6. Chapter 6

****Limbo****

 ** **Chapter 6****

 ** **Inside the mind of Penny****

Penny awoke and just lay there for a while happily watching the seagulls. Then she turned to see her Leonard laying close beside her, he was still asleep. Penny sighed happily, it felt really good to be here on the beach. And It made it feel even better to be here with Leonard, in fact now, wherever Leonard was, Penny knew, that that was where she would always want to be. Penny looked around, then spotting her empty Coke Cola can half buried in the sand, a naughty idea came to her and quietly rising she pick it up and ran down towards the sea. And as she filled the can with sea water a fleeting memory came to her that something just wasn't right, I'm sure I bought Dr Pepper not Coke she thought, then she looked back and saw Leonard, he was still laying there and she ran up to him and tipped the can of sea water over his back.

Penny ran giggling as Leonard chased her into the sea, she turned and said, "OK I surrender and threw her arms around him, they kissed then, hand in hand began to walk together back to where their things were and Penny lay and held out her arms to Leonard for him to join her. But Leonard suddenly looked sad, "I can't Penny, It's time for me to go.

Penny was puzzled 'What does he mean?, Didn't we come here together?', She thought to herself. Then thinking that Leonard was perhaps teasing her in revenge for her mischievous action, she looked down and patted his towel beside her in encouragement but when she looked back towards him. Leonard had vanished.

Conscious

After a difficult three weeks for the gang, they finally received word from the trauma center that Leonard had awoken from his coma and had been moved from the ICU to a general ward.

They all met in 4A along with Penny's mother, ( _Wyatt had had to return to the farm in Nebraska last week_ ).

Everyone was much cheered by the news of Leonard's recovery and were eager to see Leonard when Sheldon reminded them they still had a big problem.  
"We all go to see Leonard and what happens when he sees Penny is not there, what are we to tell him then? Hmm, that she has gone to see the Hadron Collider?, hardly likely, or are we to tell him she is busy cataloging all her shoes?, Really?, you people need to think again".

"Sheldon we have no choice. We have to tell Leonard the truth that Penny is ill. Leonard would be absolutely devastated if we kept it from him. Amy told him, "What we have to do is try and convince Leonard that we are taking good care of Penny until he recovers sufficiently to be able to see her himself,. Though Knowing Leonard I just dread to think how he is going to take the news".

Everyone considered ideas as to how they could keep Leonard calm enough so that he will stay where he is until he is well enough to leave.

Raj suggested if they might be able to bring Penny to see Leonard, but Amy informed him that until Penny had regained her mental health there was no way at all that they would let her leave. And this hard cold fact left the whole group in a somber mood.

The next morning Bernadette alone visited Penny. ( _Penny's mother had just found herself unable to cope at the sight of her once vivacious Daughter's plight and at the risk of her grief possibly distressing Penny further it was suggested that she visit every week_ ), It saddened Bernadette to see Penny looking so thin and frail a mere shadow of her former self.

She forced herself to be cheerful however and told Penny that Leonard had now awoken from his coma and hopefully would be soon back on his feet.

Bernadette choked up at seeing no response from Penny even at the good news about Leonard , just the same vacant staring into space still tightly holding her snowflake. Bernadette could stand it no longer she rushed from the room crying helplessly.

"It's very hard I know, to see her like that", the nurse said , She was the one that was on duty when they brought Penny in. "But they do recover eventually you know, you just have to believe that".

Bernadette went on to tell her about Leonard and how devastated he would be not to see Penny at his bedside.

The Nurse, Sarah Cantle as she had introduced herself to Bernadette, thought for a few minutes.

"Let me inform Dr Anderson about this development and I will get back to you".

Then Bernadette felt a bit happier and returned home.

 **Inside the mind of Penny**

Penny worriedly retraced their steps back up to the parking lot, while hoping against hope that Leonard was in the car waiting for her . But she opened the door to see Bernadette sitting on Penny's couch at 4b.

"Bernadette?, How did you...", then remembering Leonard she asked Bernadette if she knew where Leonard had gone. "Find him Penny, Find him, he really needs you, you know". Just then Penny heard Leonard crying out and turned towards the sound.

 **At the Wolowitz house**

Later Doctor Anderson rang Bernadette to inform her that arrangements had been made to bring Leonard , as soon as he was able, to see Penny.

 **The trauma center**

The visit to Leonard was even more difficult than they thought, at soon as he heard of Penny's Illness Leonard became absolutely hysterical. And tried with incredible strength to get up out of his bed in order to go to Penny as fast as possible, and it was with enormous difficulty that they barely managed to calm him down at all, and that was only achieved by the aid of a strong sedative from the Doctor.

Bernadette then told Leonard about the arrangement of Nurse Sarah Cantle and Doctor Anderson in bringing Leonard to see Penny as it was crucial to her recovery, Leonard's Doctor after learning of the importance to Penny's recovery had agreed to this action.

Leonard became less agitated at this arrangement and became impatient for the day to come to see Penny..

* * *

 **Inside the mind of Penny**

Penny by now in floods of tears over Leonard's crying. So much so that Penny felt she could feel his pain as acutely as Leonard could. And her haste to comfort him became even greater. She rushed over to 4a and hammered violently on the door which was immediately opened by Sheldon. "Ah Penny you must hurry. Find Leonard he needs you. Go now, quickly", and Penny moved to descend the stairs. She opened the stable door where Wyatt had just finished saddling her horse. "You're all ready to go, quickly now Leonard needs you, go find him", and quickly mounting her horse she galloped out of the stable.

And then Penny stopped suddenly, "Which way do I go?", she sobbed, "Which way do I go?".

 **Connections**

 **T** he day finally arrived when Leonard would be taken to the Psychiatric hospital to see Penny.  
Leonard when he was conducting experiments at Cal Tech, though excited, was always cool and calm during the process. But today he was impatient, irritable, and bubbling over in eagerness to see Penny. In fact if he wasn't taken soon Leonard was quite prepared smash his way out of there and hot foot it by himself to see her.  
After he had awakened from his coma, Leonard's nights were filled with vivid dreams of Penny, But each time he reached out to hold her in his arms, she became as the substance of a hologram. Many times during those nights Leonard would howl out in frustration and grief at not being able to hold her close, often waking to find himself sobbing uncontrollably.

Soon a Nurse appeared with his clothes and Leonard hurriedly dressed, although he was now able to walk, the Nurse also brought a wheel chair for him as it was not known if he was strong enough to be able to walk further than the length of the corridor outside the general ward.

She wheeled him to the lifts, entering one that was already there and they descended down and out through the main doors of the Trauma Center. Then he was wheeled into the back of the ambulance and taken on the short Journey to the Psychiatric hospital.

Leonard could not recall his journey through the building until he got near to Penny's room where Nurse Sarah was waiting for him. "Ah you must be Leonard, the snowflake giver, so pleased to meet you, and I am so glad to see that you are recovering". She quickly explained Penny's condition and as he listened to her Leonard fought an almost impossible battle to keep from crying his heart out. Then she wheeled him into Penny's room.  
At the sight of his Fiancee looking so frail and still tightly holding the snowflake, gazing into space. Leonard very nearly lost total control of his emotions.  
he moved towards the bed kissed her cheek then placed his hands on hers.  
"She just won't let go of your snowflake not for anything, just talk to her, tell her about the special moments you shared with her. Well I'll leave you two alone now, see you in a bit", Sarah told him and then left.

"I love you so much honey", he said his voice hoarse with emotion. Leonard spoke to Penny about the many happy times they shared together , how happy Leonard was on the night when she finally told him she loved him, and the Prom night they spent on the roof of their apartment block, and many other close moments they shared together.  
But Penny remained still locked in her own distant world and did not respond.

Finally Nurse Sarah returned signaling that it was time for him to leave.  
Leonard leaned over and placing his hand on her shoulder, kissed her cheek and said, "see you again soon honey come back to me please, I do love you so very much".  
then he was wheeled out of the room and back in the corridor outside where Leonard just lost it screaming in grief and pain at not being able to reach her sobbing with the frustration he was just hysterical.  
Nurse Sarah put her arm round him and held him till the crying subsided. "You must realize this may take a few visits before Penny gives you any sign you are getting through to her,  
so please don't be so discouraged.

Meanwhile unseen in the room Penny at the sound of Leonard's crying, turned her head to look at the door a tear falling from her eye.

 **Inside the mind of Penny**

The crying began again and Penny turned her horse in the direction it came from, but then for Penny her horse just wasn't fast enough, so Penny quickly dismounted and ran as fast as she could to get to her Leonard. "Now I know which way to go", she said urging herself to go faster.

 ** **Lost then found****

Leonard now back in his hospital bed thought often of his visit to Penny. He had wept quite a few times since over his anguish in his failure to reach her, to bring her back from a twilight world that was neither day nor night. but now he considered long and in depth the right approach to reach her. vowing to himself that he would never ever give up on Penny, she was too much a part of him now, she was his life.

A week after his visit to Penny. Leonard once more found himself being wheeled to see her again. The last time he would be making this journey in this fashion. As next week he was being discharged, except for some physiotherapy, he was finished with the hospital for now.

With the butterflies swarming in his stomach, just as they were on his first date with Penny. Leonard was once again wheeled into her room taking up the same position by her bed he kissed her in greeting, and then talked to Penny on all the things he thought would bring her back to his world.

 **Inside the mind of Penny**

Penny excitedly felt that she was getting closer as she was sure she could smell the unmistakable scent of Brut aftershave that Leonard always wore to remind him of his Father. Penny tried to run even faster but her frustration began to increase as she still could not seem to reach Leonard.

 **Leonard**

But alas still without result. Leonard had vowed beforehand that he would not break down in front of Penny, if he still didn't achieve his aim to restore her back to his side. but as he looked at her vacant expression then at the snowflake still tightly held in her hands, Leonard lost that battle.  
With shoulders heaving then great tearing sobs, Leonard again broke down and cried.

 **Inside the mind of Penny**

The crying had started again, nearer this time, it wrenched Penny's heart to hear it. She ran as fast as she had ever run before he was so near. Suddenly at last Her Leonard was there, tearfully, but with joy at finding him. She reached out her hand and laid it on his head entwining her fingers in his hair to comfort him.

Leonard at first unaware that Penny had responded, suddenly looked up at her and then rising in joy, he held her tightly in his arms covering her in floods of tears while Penny seemingly still unable to speak wrapped her arms tightly around him, with one hand still holding on tightly to the snowflake , "everything's OK now, I've found him at last", she said in her mind.

At that very moment Nurse Sarah Cantle entered and was then stunned into immobility at the heart wrenching scene in front of her and with eyes brimming She ran to fetch Dr Anderson.


	7. Chapter 7

****Holiday****

 ** **Chapter 7****

The hospital peace garden was quite large, and now as the weather was mild. Penny and Leonard would often walk or sit on a bench enjoying the tranquility of the place. And although Leonard was recovered sufficiently to return to work. Professor Siebert felt that with Penny still recovering, it would be nigh on impossible for Leonard to be able to concentrate on his work so they allowed him some time off until Leonard was ready to return. At first the dedicated couple hardly spoke at all, but their closeness, just holding each other tightly were all the words that needed to be said. Sitting there quietly, Penny for the umpteenth time admired her engagement ring, and made a firm vow to herself that as soon as she was allowed to go home, she was going to marry her soul mate, her Leonard, and thence discovered deep inside her that she felt no longer any fear of commitment, but only immense happiness at the thought.

Leonard was still on cloud nine at being reunited with Penny again but sadly when the time would come for him to leave her there and go home, he would feel a nagging aching emptiness that would not cease, until he could see her again the next day.  
And as the days passed by, Penny gradually became stronger, and more like her old self.  
Penny's Mother, Sheldon & Amy, Howard & Bernadette, Raj and even Emily, came to visit her more often. One day Leonard, and Penny (Or Romeo and Juliet as the Hospital staff had named them) were just discussing if the Hospital had given any indication of the likely date that Penny would be discharged. When her Mother entered Penny's room. Penny then turned to Leonard and pleaded with him if he would go and get her some chocolate and a banana shake and how she would absolutely die if she didn't get them. Which Leonard thought to be rather odd for Penny, but then again she had been through quite an ordeal I guess, he told himself. "Will you be OK then while I'm gone Honey?", Leonard asked her. his concern written all over his face.  
" I will be fine, anyway Mom's here now", Penny reassured him.  
Then Leonard left to look for a store.  
When he returned later with Penny's oh so crucial chocolate & shake. Penny and her Mom suddenly stopped talking as soon as Leonard had reappeared, and Mom and Daughter exchanged, it seemed, secret knowing looks with each other. It was similar to the looks the bad guys would exchange when Leonard was at school and they usually led to something quite unpleasant for Leonard Hofstadter. But then again, this was Penny, and Leonard trusted her implicitly.

Shortly after that Penny's Mom left and bore the biggest smile Leonard had ever seen on her face. "What were you two talking about?, Leonard puzzled, quite certain that their talk involved him.  
"Well Honey I was just thinking we really need a holiday when I get out of here so Mom said we could stay for a while at the farm, is that OK with you.  
This idea pleased Leonard immensely as he felt Penny really needed somewhere quiet and relaxing for her but he could not think of the best place to take her. But Wyatt's farm was an excellent idea as Penny could relax in familiar and pleasant surroundings and really find the peace she needs.

Penny's illness had certainly changed her, she was a lot more subdued now and when with Leonard, she was always touching him, holding him tightly, as if terrified someone would take him away from her, and when Leonard went home, she too felt the same nagging empty void inside her, and only improving in her demeanour when Leonard returned in the morning.

she thought long and often about Bernadette's description of Leonard's reaction when he heard about her illness. It utterly amazed her, that it took the whole gang and a strong sedative from a Doctor to calm him down to prevent Leonard from breaking his way out of there to get to her. And she herself even in her dream like state could not fail to hear his anguished crying and his pain at being unable to reach her, so disturbed by it was she, that it was that that had brought her back from the isolated world in her mind.

When Bernadette visited Penny, she would always find Leonard was already with Penny, and it always amazed Bernadette to see the level of adoration that they had for each other

Soon the day arrived for Penny to be discharged. And two days later they were on their way to Nebraska. the following days were magical for Penny, not only was she back in the place she loved, with the family she loved, but best of all she was also with the man she absolutely adored, Her Leonard.

Three days later while Penny went riding and Leonard was for the while happily content just to lean over the rail watching her, when Wyatt came out Leading another saddled horse.

"Here Son , Why don't you two ride together?", he suggested to Leonard.

Leonard had never been on a horse before but thought it would be OK riding round the corral, and he did want to please Penny. Things started OK just walking round but then the horse broke into a trot and at the turn Leonard fell off. Penny, in a state of blind panic leaped off her horse as fast as she could, nearly stumbling herself in the process and crying hysterically as she ran to help Leonard.

"It's alright honey, it's only my pride that was injured this time. Leonard reassured her, but Penny still clung to him tightly, sobbing into his shoulder and positively shaking with fear, while Leonard gently rubbed her back and reassured her over and over again that he was OK and that perhaps she ought to give him some lessons..

Wyatt turned away to hide his tears. It seemed Penny wasn't quite there yet. But would she ever recover fully?, Wyatt so wished he knew but was, oh so thankful that she had Leonard.

* * *

 ** **Knotting****

The following morning, Penny showed Leonard around the farm, while Penny explained to him all the different tasks that would be carried out in a year on the farm. When suddenly Leonard became aware of the hubbub of activity coming from a large barn 100 yards away  
and began to walk towards it to see what they were doing.  
"Leonard Honey, let's go inside now the sun's getting a little strong OK", Penny advised him.  
Though he was feeling absolutely fine, Leonard acquiesced. And felt the warm glow of love inside him at Penny's concern for him.  
On the Friday Morning Leonard was awakened by the sun streaming through a gap in the blinds  
and was surprised to find that Penny was already up. So he rose, donned his robe and entered the bathroom. Whereupon Penny entered the bedroom carrying a tray on which resided his breakfast and coffee. Seeing the bed empty she called his name.  
I'm in the shower, Leonard called to her. "Are you going to join me?", he asked hopefully.  
"Sorry sweetie no time, I have to help Mom in the kitchen today. "Here eat your breakfast before it gets cold",she said indicating the tray on a small table.  
"Oh", said Leonard, feeling rather disappointed, "I guess I was kinda hoping we could go out for a ride this morning", he said looking at her with that raised eyebrow pleading look that always gave her butterflies.  
"Leonard Hofstadter, you very nearly gave me heart failure the other day, look why don't I suggest that you go through those papers from Cal Tech, you don't want to get too far behind in your work do you?".

Leonard sighed, "I'd rather you didn't suggest for me to work", he said just a little down. he felt so much more interested in going riding with Penny, But then again, she was right of course. Dr Gabelhauser would be none too pleased at the increasing delay to his report on his findings. So a little while after breakfast, found Romeo seated at a desk and catching up on his work.

That evening, Penny and Leonard were sitting as always, close together on the sofa engaging in idle chit chat and kisses, lots of them. When Penny's Mother called Penny if she would return to the kitchen by asking if she could give her a hand. Leonard began to rise, ever the gentleman and said "let me go", when Penny suddenly pushed him back down on to the sofa and after kissing him with a rather secretive smile on her face, she left to go to the kitchen and closed the  
lounge door behind her.

After a few minutes the lounge door opened and Wyatt entered the room.  
"How about we find ourselves a bar and get to know each other better", He asked Leonard. Wyatt pleased to note the look of concern on Leonard's face at leaving Penny, thought to himself, 'this one sure matches the blueprint'. But Leonard deemed it wiser not to upset his future Father in law so agreed telling him, " I'll just go and let Penny know".

"it's OK Son, she already knows", Wyatt replied.

"You know this is a good idea", Leonard observed as they drove,"I've hardly seen you, your wife or Penny's brother much come to that, I guess that's the nature of a busy farm".  
"Yeah that's it", Wyatt replied concealing a smile.  
Wyatt then pulled to a stop at a small quiet bar and on entering it Leonard saw Howard Sheldon, Raj, and Penny's brother all waiting for him.  
Howard stood up "Hi Buddy, Penny asked if I would give this to you, he then handed Leonard a purple envelope . "Howard!?", Leonard spluttered in shock, "What are you all doing here?".

Howard shrugged, "Open the envelope and perhaps you'll find out", he replied.

Leonard opened the envelope and pulled out a card, on the front was a picture of him and Penny on their prom night and inside he read

 **To my darling Leonard  
I won't wait any longer  
Happy wedding day tomorrow  
Now you and I both know,  
I 'd go crazy without you in my life  
With all the love in my heart  
Mrs Penny Hofstadter (to be)**

Leonard stood there, Stunned and overcome with emotion, he cried, but this time happy tears, This was his dream from the day he first set eyes on Penny, and tomorrow the dream will become a joyful reality.  
No wonder Wyatt called him son.

Congratulations Dude, it couldn't happen to a nicer couple", Raj said, shaking his hand.  
Sheldon followed suit but a much shorter handshake, before using some alcohol hand cleaner to kill off any germs Leonard might have picked up from the farm.

"is everyone here then?, asked Leonard  
"Yes, Buddy, all the guys are here as you see, while Amy, Bernadette, and Emily are with Penny Tonight".  
"So that's why Penny didn't want me in the kitchen", Lenny suddenly realized.

As Leonard was still convalescing after his illness Wyatt took careful control on all their drinking, Though the only dissenter to this was Penny's Brother.  
Sheldon's drinks that night were for him a recent discovery of tomato juice and Worcester sauce, and with no Penny around to spike it with vodka either so all in all he enjoyed himself immensely. Leonard to his delight was then led to a back room Sheldon, Howard and Raj had set up an Xbox for a night playing Halo. And though Wyatt was not interested in playing he was still content to watch the guy's enjoying themselves while he drank a few beers.

Penny, Amy, Bernadette, Emily, Penny's Mom and Penny's sister sat in the lounge drinking wine and enjoyed each others company. Her Mom like her Dad, was also keeping a close eye on the alcohol consumption she knew her Penny well after all. Penny though was not disappointed at her Mother's action She wanted to see Her Groom tomorrow with a clear head. Not missing any detail on his face, when he turns to look at her, so she can carefully file it away in her memory, and a hangover would certainly hinder her plan.

Later Bernadette asked quietly to Penny, "are you OK now?". "Well I've still got a way to go yet", Penny replied, "in fact I nearly lost it when Leonard fell off of his horse", she told her, Feeling the tears start to flow again as she remembered the event. But I am so much happier now, In fact I feel I'm the the luckiest girl in the whole wide world, "and I'm getting all I ever wanted, "My Leonard". At that point Amy revealed she had brought along her game of twister and though Marcia declined to take part she still laughed uproariously at the girls antics, especially Jan who was by now three sheets to the wind, despite Marcia's vigilance on the alcohol.

Leonard tossed and turned, it just felt so strongly that something was missing lying here without Penny beside him, and Leonard found had a devil of a job to get to sleep

Penny too could not get comfortable either, in fact she was sorely tempted to go to Leonard, it was only the fact her Mom's room was between hers and Leonard's and that her Mom would hit the roof if she attempted to join him in his bed, As Marcia considered it bad luck for the Groom to see the Bride before the wedding. She thought of her evening with the girls. It was great, Even Emily had finally made her peace with her, Penny recalled Emily's words to her, " I'm so sorry Penny, But I felt so threatened by the fact that you had hooked up with Raj some time ago, but now I feel a lot more secure when I see the enormous love you have towards Leonard, and I hope that some day, I will see that same look of love in Rajesh's eyes that I see in Leonard's eyes for you, And I'd really like us to be friends", and Penny in reply gave Emily a warm hug.

Howard, Raj, Stuart and Sheldon entered the House at midday to take Leonard to the wedding venue They got in the car and drove the few hundred yards to the big barn on the farm.

Howard explained "Apparently Penny was in such a hurry to get married to you that they were unable to book a venue anywhere else, So a Minister has agreed to marry you in the barn.  
So that's why Penny wanted me back inside the house, Leonard thought to himself.

The five guys entered the barn, And the sight simply took Leonard's breath away, it had all been spruced up for the Wedding, With bunches of flowers tied to the supporting posts, And candles everywhere standing in small water filled dishes (to lower the fire risk, Penny's Brother had told him). Leonard could not help himself shedding tears. It all looked so much better than perfect for Leonard and Penny's big day.

Leonard, took his seat at the front with Howard, With Sheldon sitting behind him, When Sheldon then leaned forward and whispered into his ear, I told you day she moved into 4B you should not have made friends with Penny. Now see what she has done. Leonard looked round startled at him, Bazinga Sheldon said to him smiling.

Soon the barn began to fill with people and the time came for the Bride to make her appearance. At the sound of the Music which Penny had chosen herself, the very apt Bacharach song The Look of love, sung by Gladys Knight and the Pips a Proud Wyatt With Penny on his arm walked down the aisle towards Leonard.  
Penny beamed when she saw the look on her Bridegrooms face as he turned to look at her. With a look of wondrous disbelief that this vision of perfection taking her place at his side was Leonard's very own bride. Leonard just could not stop the tears flowing. "just let me be the woman in this please Honey", Penny whispered, smiling at him.  
Then Leonard noticed Amy, wearing her tiara and Bernadette as Bridesmaids while Penny's Sister (in spite of her hangover), took on the role of matron of honour

The new Dr & Mrs Hofstadter entered into the reception hall and took their seats. And then the entire party sat down to eat.  
After came the speeches, With Howard as best man (it would have been Sheldon if he did not firmly insist on giving his speech in Klingon) stood and said "When Leonard told me he liked Penny I told him he had no chance with her, I just could not believe that a stunningly beautiful girl like Penny could ever have fallen for a quiet short, studious, asthmatic, short sighted Nerd, But Penny, I am pleased has proved me totally wrong. that it is more important what is in a man's heart rather than the appearance. Leonard too has taught me the importance of never giving up on your dreams. So if you would like to raise your glasses in a toast To Penny and Leonard may they be happy forever. Yes I say forever because of the so strong love between them I am certain that that love will never die at all.

Then Wyatt stood and thanked his wife and everyone for their hard work throughout the week in getting the Barn and the food ready and said "when you have a beautiful daughter and I have been blessed with two, you want the best for them, even in the matter of husbands and I am overjoyed to say Penny has chosen one I approve of wholeheartedly. To Leonard I say, I am proud to call you my son in law glad to have you in the family Son, to Penny and Leonard.

Then it was Leonard's turn. It was difficult at first, him being overcome with emotion like he was, but to everyone it just reinforced how much Leonard loved Penny as he gave his speech. He thanked Mom and Dad and everyone who helped, for their hard work in getting the barn and the food ready. Wyatt and his Wife beamed when he told them that he was totally blown away by the wonderful sight of the barn it was so much better than perfect. Then turning to Penny, he thanked her from the bottom of his heart for agreeing to be his wife. In his wildest dreams he could never have imagined himself being married to the most prettiest, kindest Girl in the world who would not only be his Wife but also his closest dearest friend.

Penny, By now in floods of tears herself, stood and hugged him tightly and kissed him soundly, To resounding applause.

Afterwards He got a tear filled bear hug from Penny's Mom. And was then cornered by Penny's sister, "I was going to threaten to shoot you if you ever hurt our Penny, but I saw the look in your eyes as you looked at her and then I plumb filled up, so I guess I won't be needing my gun". "Welcome to the family Leonard", and she kissed him soundly, to Leonard's trepidation as he looked over at Penny, but she was just laughing at them.

At Penny and Leonard's first dance as a couple Penny whispered ", Were you shocked at my surprise, Was it OK I mean". "My darling Penny you have just helped me realize my dream of being married to you, I'm over the moon, Mrs Penny Hofstadter I love you so much".  
"I love you so much too Dr Leonard Hofstadter. And then she kissed him soundly.


	8. Chapter 8

****Chapter 8****

 ** **Things that go bump in the night****

3 hours after their wedding reception had finished, Leonard and Penny lay together in bed. Penny, as always spooned in front of Leonard and thinking of the past evenings events. although feeling sleepy, She still couldn't get to sleep though for her excitement that she was now Mrs Penny Christine Hofstadter. she considered her and Leonard's Recent Illnesses, Though unpleasant, She was so very grateful that ill health, Both Physical (Leonard) and Mental (herself) had really brought home to her what it was She really desired most in the World. Which was of course, Sharing the rest of her life with with a very special guy who loved her to bits. "Penny", Leonard whispered. "Honey I thought you were asleep?", Penny whispered back. "No I'm just too excited, I just can't believe I'm at last married to you, I still cannot believe that my dream has been realized" Leonard declared". No, I was going to ask you, do you remember when you sent me to get your chocolate and banana shake, was that to get me out of the way, so your Mother and yourself, could plan this secret Wedding?". "Guilty as charged Penny giggled, I had to get you to leave for a little while somehow didn't I, and the chocolate and drink were a nice bonus too". " Mrs Hofstadter, I love you so much", Dr Hofstadter told her running a hand over her stomach and upwards. Which immediately as usual resulted in an excited Penny who became very interested for some more Loving with Leonard.

She turned to face him and they began kissing passionately.  
" And that is why I did not want you to go riding on Friday, If you got saddle sore it could deny me my conjugal rights on my wedding night, and you were definitely not getting away with that Dr Hofstadter". "Well Mrs Hofstadter, we have had two doses already, and I prescribe another dose just to make sure" Leonard said hopefully, "I Quite agree Dr", Penny replied, " we had better take this one immediately". And they resumed kissing and hugging.

After they had taken the third dose of the night. Penny, once more, Spooned in front of Leonard. Remembered a little exchange between Amy and Sheldon, Amy had been quite taken by how wonderful the barn had looked for the wedding, and she had asked Sheldon if it had given him any ideas?. Sheldon admitted that it certainly had, "The size of the barn would make a great laboratory for experiments and research", Sheldon then began to reel off a list of equipment that may be needed to carry out the various experiments. "Hmmm,then if I could get Leonard and Wolowitz to do all the donkey work, why I could have quite a nice little setup in a building of this size". Then Sheldon began to visualize how his lab might look. Amy, now in a huff, slapped him on the arm and looked completely exasperated with him. Poor Amy, Penny thought, will Sheldon ever get there. She thought he would, But he would certainly take a long time, She thought.

It would be interesting to see if Raj and Emily would tie the knot in the future, every time they danced together in the slow dances, Emily would lay her head on Raj's shoulder, they did look good together.

She remembered about the talk her father had had with her before they left together for the barn. He told her how relieved he was that her choice was not one of the yahoo's she previously liked to date. He revealed to her that his objection was that not one of them ever looked at her like Leonard does. Not one of them, could he see making her happy just because it made them happy. Wyatt, with tears in his eyes admitted his great regret of letting her leave here with Kurt. "Sometimes an older man with life experiences can see more clearly, and even though he had met Kurt briefly, Wyatt could immediately tell by Kurt's manner that for Kurt He himself, would always be the number one, as far as he was concerned. But Penny was so infatuated with him that he had to let them go.

"Daddy, I'm so sorry I never knew you felt that way, you were absolutely right, Kurt was an out and out pig", Penny said as she threw her arms around her Father, and fought mightily to hold back the tears.

"But if it wasn't for Kurt. I would never have met Leonard, would I?, so in a way, it all ended very happily for me in the end",

He also confessed to her how he had begged Leonard never to give up on her and to love and look after her again when she pretended to her Father, that She was still dating Leonard.

"Daddy Leonard would have never gave up on me even without you asking him. "well that's certainly the truth, I see it in his face whenever he looks at you and I am certain in my mind that Leonard has loved and cared for her in much greater measure than He could have ever dreamed Leonard would care for her. Penny wholeheartedly agreed with him.

Yes, that was Leonard, always concerned for her happiness, her dreams and her well being.

She reached out for Leonard's hand and gave it a loving squeeze and Leonard responded by pulling her closer to him, whereupon they drifted off to sleep.

Leonard felt Penny fidgeting behind him in the early hours as she tried to get herself comfortable and was about to turn to ask her if she was OK, when he suddenly came awake immediately as he realized that Penny was snuggled against his front and still wrapped in his arms.

Leonard gently shook Penny's shoulder. "Leonard , I'm sorry darling. I'm just too tired now", She mumbled in her sleep.

Leonard shook Penny's shoulder again, "Leonard please, I want to sleep".

Leonard was feeling very uncomfortable as Penny and himself too, were wearing only what god had given them.

Leonard felt he really had no choice he had to alert Penny and on the third shake of her shoulder Penny turned and asked him what was the matter. On being informed by Leonard that there was a third occupant in their bed. Penny picked up her phone and then leaning over Leonard she pointed the screens glow towards the unknown person.

"It's old Aunt Olivia", Penny whispered, then added, "she's a bit dotty but very sweet, my guess is she needed the bathroom and became confused, probably thinking she was in her own house, and thought she was climbing into her own bed. Sorry darling we'll just have to sleep in her bed. As she could well have a heart attack if we were to wake her up now".

Using the glow from their cellphones they struggled to locate their robes, then silently opening the door they crept out and made their way to the small guest room, where Aunt Olivia was staying. The big problem though was the fact it was a single bed, and unfortunately for Leonard, Penny as soon as she fell asleep, grabbed the lions share of the mattress leaving Leonard pressed up against the wall behind him and laying on a strip of mattress about 8 inches wide, Leonard though, loved Penny too much to wake her again, as long as Penny was alright then everything was alright with the world itself, as far as Leonard was concerned.

* * *

 ** **Lake House****

Leonard finally managed to doze off about 5 AM only for Penny to shake him awake as Leonard thought, about 10 minutes later

Leonard rolled and checked the time on his phone it read 06:30 AM he looked at it in disbelief as Penny never rose till 10:00 A:M or later if she could help it, Then Penny entered the room.

She had already showered and dressed and was packing their clothes into a large holdall  
then She went to get their toiletries from the bathroom and again urged Leonard to get up and get washed and dressed. Leonard was beginning to think he was having a bad dream until Penny returned, packed their toiletries and then without further ado pulled the bedclothes from off of him.

"Penny?, What's going on?", he asked her rubbing his eyes and desperate to return to the land of nod. "It's our Honeymoon Leonard and we are going to be leaving soon please honey", She informed him.  
"I thought we were staying here?", he puzzled "Leonard sweetie I want to remember these days when we are old and gross, also I want two whole weeks with you all to myself. So please honey can you get up", She pleaded.  
Leonard groaned, his back felt stiff from being pressed up against the wall all night and he felt as if he could sleep for a week at the moment. Though Leonard did want to please his new Wife But it was with a supreme effort that he rose and went to have his shower while struggling mightily not to complain to Penny, then when he had got into the shower he had to get out again now soaking wet in order to retrieve his Star Wars shower gel and razor that Penny had packed away in the holdall.  
When he returned, Penny had laid out his clothes on the bed, kissed him passionately and left him to get dressed. Leonard wearily looked at the clothing wishing he could don some Pajamas instead.

Once he was dressed, (with the encouragement of more urgings from Penny ringing in his ears).

Wyatt knocked entered, wished him good morning and took the holdall down to the open top rental car he had hired for them.

Penny came outside and squealed with delight at seeing the sports car then grabbing the keys she kissed and hugged her father said goodbye and thanked him for all he'd done for her, at the same time Leonard was getting another bear hug from her Mother also her sister Jan had too come to see them off, (despite her banging hangover), hugged Leonard and sternly warned him to take the most special care with her sister and then she hugged Penny too. Then Penny hugged her Mother thanking her also while Wyatt shook Leonard's Hand. before Penny jumped into the drivers seat. "Uh! Honey, Are you sure you're OK to drive?", A rather concerned Leonard asked her, as he was familiar with how much Penny usually drank and thought Penny would consume even more as it was a special day. "Leonard, sweetie I did not drink much at all yesterday, Because I wanted to remember our special day forever, Especially the look on your face when I walked down the aisle, I wanted to remember it all forever", Penny replied, a little miffed with him. Leonard sheepishly sat in the passenger seat and Penny drove down the farm track towards the highway. where Penny headed Westwards, and Leonard snored.

And As Wyatt, Marcia and Jan watched them leave. Jan could not hold it back any longer and began to laugh, "Did you see Leonard?, I think our Penny's had him working all night by the looks of him". And she laughed even more. Wyatt turned a deep shade of red, while Marcia rebuked her eldest daughter and then Marcia turned back and watched the dust slowly settle back down onto the ground. Though Marcia could not have wished for a better life partner for Penny than Leonard she would still be worrying something awful.

After traveling sometime, (Apart from a rest stop where Penny bought an armful of Celebrity magazines, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire and Elle. While Leonard was still producing Z's. They then passed a sign for Lake McConaughy. "is that where we're going then", Leonard asked, as he had just woke up.

"Yes sweetie, I must say you've been fine company so far", Penny replied, but after Leonard had given her a grovelling apology Penny relented. "Dad has rented a house by the lake for a couple of weeks".  
"That was nice of him" Leonard said, then thought "I wonder if I'll get any mail from a woman in the future in the mailbox, after all it is Lake house", Leonard said, giving Penny the cheekiest of looks .  
"You had better not honey, you're already taken, unless you want me to go all Nebraska on your tushy".  
"I'd better pass on that then", Leonard conceded.  
"Now that really would be using your intelligence", Penny replied giving him, a stern look.

they pulled up beside a two bed Cabin right on the Lake with its own jetty and screened off Jacuzzi and a 20' Glastron boat tied up to the jetty.  
"Wow, this is great!", Leonard told her, Noting with approval the fact that the cabin had WI-Fi internet. "Do you want to go out in the boat once we have cleaned up?", he asked Penny.  
"No sweetie although you were born earlier than 1985 we are going on a boating course tomorrow, to get our certificate, I didn't marry you just to have you drown on me.  
"Leonard considered her point "I guess you're right honey, I wouldn't touch a laser without the proper training, So school tomorrow it is".  
"Anyway tonight Doctor, you are taking me out to dinner" she informed him, placing her arms round his neck and kissing him.

They got changed and drove a short distance to a fish restaurant and bar which was named aptly "Something Fishy", where they entered and were shown to a table. "All the fish they serve here are from this lake" Penny told him.  
Penny ordered Fisherman's Delight and Leonard chose the oven roasted Striped bass with French fries, Then he rose to get the Drinks.

As he made his way to the bar he was bumped into by a man coming in the opposite direction, Leonard apologized even though the other guy was in the wrong, In fact the guy seemed unsteady on his feet and reminded him of the school bullies in his stature and manner, Leonard then proceeded to the bar.

Penny was looking out the window when she became aware of a man leaning on her table. "Can I help you?, Penny asked, not liking the look of the man at all.  
"how about we go for a little ride huh and you can be nice to me all friendly like" He said looking at her straight in the bust.

"Sorry I'm afraid I can't, I am here with my Husband", Penny informed him holding up her left hand to display her wedding ring.  
"That's OK Honey, let's leave now Before he gets back, then we can have us a real nice time together huh. Then he reached out to take her hand.

Penny was scared and seeing the jug of water in the middle of the table she threw it at the man in a panic

The drunk took the jug square in the nose and losing his temper he grabbed her shoulder and pulled his arm back to strike her when he found his wrist held in a vice like grip, then turning to punch whoever was poking their nose into his business, changed his mind as a giant of a man stood there and warned him, " Now you just hold on there Mister, I take exception to you insulting my customers and now you are going to leave and I don't want to see your stinking carcass in here again, Comprende", and with that the proprietor picked the drunk up with ease and threw him out.  
"Are you OK Penny?, Sorry about him I should have never let him in there, Janey told me he looked like bad news when She saw him, Now please have your meals on the house"

"Yeah I'm OK. Hi Pete long time no see", Penny greeted him and thanked him for his kind assistance, but She had turned white as a sheet after the ordeal and worse still she seemed to become irrational, Penny suddenly began laughing and giggling at things that weren't even funny, Then She became fearful as She observed what she assumed was an angry look on Leonard's face

He put the drinks on the table and sat down and wondered what on earth he possibly could do to comfort Penny, as her demeanour now alarmed him greatly.  
"I didn't encourage him Leonard, please believe me, please don't be angry with me, She said beginning to cry.  
Leonard put his hands in hers "Oh Penny darling, I'm angry with myself not you, I should have protected you from that jerk".  
Penny relaxed slightly as She then pointed out to Leonard that She'd rather he didn't as he did not know if the guy had a knife or gun.

But inside her still damaged mind her anguish was steadily increasing. She had upset Leonard, She had hurt Leonard again. "You stupid fool Penny you shouldn't hurt Leonard. You must stop it now", Her inner voice berated her

Then Penny's hysteria built up and up until finally unable to control herself any longer, She ran sobbing hysterically from the restaurant.  
Leonard ran after her cursing the stupid drunk for upsetting His dear Penny, Oh, God. Please don't let her slip back inside herself Leonard silently begged.  
Leonard began gasping for breath as Penny easily outstripped him for speed, and blindly running with no thought of direction until fortunately for Leonard, she stumbled and lay prone on the ground sobbing bitterly.  
Leonard tenderly put his arms around her and brought her to himself holding her close to him but Penny tried to push him away declaring "please Leonard, I'm just no good for you, I don't deserve you" she stammered through her distress.  
"Penny, I beg you Please. Let me be the one to decide if you are good enough for me, Honey you are the only one in this big wide world I want to be with, I placed that ring on your finger myself, I chose you Penny, No one else and I want nothing more than to live the rest of my life with you by my side always". At Leonard's words finally Penny began to calm down, certainly things were indeed better but only as long as Leonard was with her and loved her dearly. Then she just might find the strength to overcome this nightmare.

The Proprietor helped Leonard to bring Penny back to the restaurant and thence to a small staff sitting room whereupon a Doctor was called who gave Penny some tranquilizers and also a mild sedative to help her sleep, Then Leonard still fretting over her, drove Penny back to the cabin and held his beloved Penny close in his arms all night.

The next Morning Penny insisted that they keep their appointment on the boating course, "Honey I'm not having a honeymoon where my only memory of it was a drunken jerk", She said determinedly.  
Leonard reluctantly agreed though she still looked Very pale and quite nervous.  
Though the boat course passed without incident and they both obtained their certificate without too much trouble.

The next day Pete popped round with something that made Penny squeal with delight,  
two fishing poles, Then later that day, She got Leonard to purchase two non resident three day fishing permits online.  
"So Penny, how is your dad these days , since I bought the diner I haven't had time for much fishing, I must invite him down for a couple of weeks, It'll be just like the old days. So what do you think of the cabin?"

"My dad's fine thank you and he sends his best by the way" Penny replied "And the cabin's great, I didn't think that these rented ones would be this good inside", She added  
"Well this isn't a rented one it's mine, I bought it when I retired from the force", Pete told her.  
Then Penny put her hand to her mouth in consternation, "I'm so sorry , I got excited over the fishing poles.

Here, Pete let me introduce you to my Husband Leonard", "Leonard this is my Dad's best buddy Pete", She hastily introduced them. The two men shook hands and Pete smiled at Leonard, "I've been hearing some real good things about you from Wyatt, Scientist eh?", he told Leonard. who then blushed at being praised by this giant. Then Pete turned to Penny "By the way I rang some buddies of mine about the incident with that Bozo yesterday, and from the description I gave them, It seems he was wanted for a couple of robberies and they picked him up in Oglallala, he was trying to buy more drink would you believe. so he won't be bothering any other pretty girls for some time. And I sure would like for you two to eat at my place as you were so rudely disturbed before your meals?".  
Penny felt enormously relieved at hearing of the capture of the drunk, and smiled at Pete "We would love to Pete, how about this evening?  
"That will be be great Penny, Janey and I will look forward to it" Pete beamed at her , then he left to return to the diner.

Penny and Leonard then turned their attention to having some fun in trying out the boat, And Leonard was very pleased at the opportunity to put his boating training to good use, Whereas Penny who had often accompanied Her Father on fishing trips when younger and was quite familiar with boating.

Later they got changed and made their way back to the diner where Penny reordered The Fisherman's surprise and Leonard decided to have the same as Penny. Their meals were delicious and went well with the white wine that Penny had ordered, though Leonard stuck to mineral water as he was driving. Later Pete and Janey came out when it the diner had got less busy and delighted Leonard with adventure tales of Penny as a young child, and when Wyatt and himself would camp out for a week's fishing.

Leonard decided he liked this old friend of Wyatt's and was now glad he came here, The boat was more fun than he thought it would be too, and he was pleased to see his Penny laughing and talking, she was in her element laughing with Janey at the stories of peculiar and odd customers they had met. Penny's tales while at the cheesecake factory and Janey with her tales of the diner. And Janey laughed uproariously when Penny began to relate to her about the antics of a certain Dr Sheldon Cooper. Leonard smiled as he watched Penny, she had seemed to have calmed down and to Leonard's great joy she resembled more closely the beautiful, vivacious Penny he met and fell in love with.


	9. Chapter 9

****Chapter 9****

 ** **Gone Fishin'****

The urgent need for a bathroom break, woke Leonard and tutting to himself as he felt just too comfortable to move, laying here with his wife in his arms. Feeling annoyed that his bladder just couldn't have the consideration to wait for another hour or so. he got up to head for the bathroom and silence his complaining bladder.. As he was returning to Penny and comfort, Leonard's cellphone rang joining his bladder at it's rudeness and he quickly answered it before it woke Penny up, "This is Dr Hofstadter, can I help you?".  
it was Dr Gablehauser who apologized for ringing him on his holiday but he desperately needed Leonard to run through some data for him.  
"Er, well actually Sir I am on my honeymoon, Yes Sir, I got married last Saturday, Yes Sir, to that very pretty blonde girl Penny, Thank You Sir, Well if you really are that desperate I think I could look at the data for you", Leonard told him but inwardly cringing inside as to what Penny would say. "Er, just how much data is there?, so, about an hour and a half to scan it all, Oh OK sir that doesn't sound too bad. I'll download it now, Bye Sir.

Leonard set up his laptop and began to download the data, and wondered how on earth he was going to explain it to Penny?, Fortunately for Leonard at the moment, Penny seemed to be still asleep.  
But as soon as Leonard breathed a sigh of relief that he could postpone his explanation for hopefully another hour, when 5 minutes later Penny entered the lounge "I thought I heard your phone ring?, I warn you Hofstadter if it's that woman from the future, then you can expect to get breakfast in bed from a ward orderly in the local hospital", She told him giving him a stern look.  
"No such luck, I'm afraid", and he giggled and ducked as Penny threw a cushion at his head, " Well actually honey it was Dr Gabelhauser and he was kind of desperate for someone to look over some data for him, Sorry honey he said it would only take an hour and a half and he promised he'll pay me double into the bargain".  
"Leonard!, it's our honeymoon, I want this to be special, and I don't want to remember you doing work on it", Penny berated him in some dismay. Then added, "My how quickly the magic goes in a marriage", "and what do you expect me to do for an hour and a half?. And answer wisely Hofstadter or else", she warned him as she noticed the sly look on his face as he began to open his mouth.

As Leonard began to look through the information Dr Gabelhauser had sent. Penny made coffee and sat and sulkily watched him work.

Finally after finishing her coffee, Penny made herself some breakfast, not without Leonard's notice, though he wisely kept silent

"OK Listen up, we, 'Husband', are going to go fishing this afternoon and you are going to be very, very nice to your very beautiful and wonderful wife tonight too, so then Hofstadter I suggest you be prepared to pull out all the stops to make me happy. Or else", Leonard sat up straight and gave her the scouts salute.  
At that moment Penny's cellphone rang and she got up to answer it.  
"That was Janey," She said, when she had finished the cellphone call. "She rang to ask if we would like to go to North Platte with her, as she needs to get some supplies and would I like to look around the shops and stuff, so I thought as you are ignoring your wife and working this morning, I could just go with her, OK".  
"Sure good idea, OK Honey take care now".  
Then Penny showered and dressed, then twenty minutes later Janey called for her, Penny quickly kissed Leonard, and then the two women left for North Platte.  
Leonard felt distinctly uneasy at Penny going without him and would have said no. But Penny was still in high dudgeon with him and Leonard did not want to upset Penny by arguing with her, however the thought that she was with Janey alleviated his concern to a degree, and he returned to scanning the data for Dr Gabelhauser. Finally over 4 and a half hours later, Leonard finally finished and sent his report to Cal Tech, feeling some annoyance at what he thought was Dr Gabelhauser's deliberately low estimate of the amount of data Leonard had to deal with, And made himself some coffee, And just as he was finishing his coffee the two women returned from their trip and Penny came in with a couple of bags of supplies for them as well as two bags of shoes and a couple of cute dresses Penny had discovered in a store in North Platte. And after a stern look towards Leonard, daring him to comment on her purchases, she offered Janey a coffee which she declined "Sorry, but I really have to get this stuff back and prepare the fish for the diner but thanks anyway. Then Janey left for the diner.

Penny put the shopping away but not before Leonard also spied a couple of cookery books that she had also bought, but again thought it prudent to keep silent. They had a quick lunch and then went to change for their fishing trip. Leonard went to his bag to get his old jeans and was unfolding them when a thick packet dropped to the floor, he picked it up and upon opening it saw loads of one hundred dollar bills inside.  
"Penny, do you know where this come from?.  
Penny turned and goggled at the site of the bundle of money in Leonard's hand then noticed a piece of notepaper on the floor, picking it up she then proceeded to read aloud.

 _Dear Leonard  
I know you insisted on taking the blame for the flashlight on the back seat of the car, but I cannot help but feel greatly responsible as I insisted it be included in the room mate agreement, also I'm ashamed that I was unable to help both Penny and yourself with your respective illnesses, My close friends badly needed help and I was unable to give it. As a hot beverage seems totally inadequate on this occasion. I have discussed this problem with Amy and She has recommended to me that perhaps an enclosed gift of a small amount would be acceptable by the pair of you in order that, as well as aiding you both to recover but also as a wedding present too, also most importantly for being my dear friends, who would always be there when I needed them._

 _Yours faithfully  
Dr Sheldon Cooper & Dr Amy Farrah Fowler  
_"Penny there's 10,000 dollars here", Leonard informed her in utter astonishment, "I just can't believe it", Penny replied, "Amy never said a word to me", "And would never have though in a million years that Sheldon would do something like this", she said beginning to choke up.  
"Well this makes our financial situation a little easier", Leonard observed.  
"Yes it sure does Honey. Now lets go fishing", then she added more to herself, "I wish I had known about the money. I would have bought some more shoes, and maybe that cute blue dress I saw... and a necklace would be rather nice too".

Penny untied the boat from the jetty and they moved away, then Leonard started the engine and moved into deeper water. Penny baited their hooks as Leonard was behaving like an absolute girl with his worm, and they began to fish. Penny never caught anything at all as she spent much of her time supervising Leonard and instructing him as to what needs to do and after an hour or two, they returned to the jetty after Leonard (with a great deal of Penny's help) brought back six white bass .  
They entered the cabin and Leonard put the fish on a plate, and looked expectantly at Penny.  
"Umm sorry sweetie but you caught em, you clean them", she informed him.  
So Leonard did so but unfortunately not without yet more supervision from Penny.  
Then she sat down and relaxed, while Leonard cooked the fish with some rice and a salsa, opened some of Penny's favourite wine and then they ate together.  
"Well that was delicious, my compliments to the chef", she said, then she drained her glass , undressed herself and headed for the Jacuzzi, without even a word or a backward glance at Leonard. Penny was still a little annoyed with him at his audacity to work on their honeymoon.

But after half an hour Penny's plan to teach Leonard a lesson failed as growing bored with being on her own,and she also strongly in need in need of a certain type of exercise with Leonard. So she called his name in a sing song manner for him to join her.

Leonard entered the screened off area of the Jacuzzi and spotting the familiar patterned items of swimwear on the floor immediately gave him an inkling as to what Penny wanted.

But first Leonard had to make a long grovelling apology to Penny, for his neglect of his wife that morning before Penny, finally allowed him to enter the jacuzzi and just five minutes later they were both occupied with physical activities , before they went inside and resumed in the bedroom and after an hour or so Penny comfortably lay spooned in front of Leonard, his arms holding her close to him before both fell asleep in the wee small hours.

The next morning they took the boat out again and just traveled around the lake, Penny revealing to Leonard that Lake McConaughy was the fifth largest lake in the USA. And then she talked of the fishing trips that little Slugger as her father had called her, had grown to love, but sadly Penny revealed that when she reached puberty, her Father suddenly stopped taking her with him. Then Penny wept at the memory of rejection. "He didn't mean to you see, it was just that once he saw me as a young woman, he assumed that I would not want to be doing those things anymore. What hurt the most is that he never asked me once if I still wanted to go", Penny said once she stopped crying.

Leonard carefully moved over towards her and put an arm round her to comfort her. And there they sat for a while and watched the insects dancing on the lake surface.

Then they anchored the boat and Penny began fishing catching a couple of Walleye and some striped bass, while Leonard watched remembering one of the guys at Cal Tech telling him how relaxing fishing was and he hoped it was helping Penny. She never failed to surprise him, as she expertly cast her line and watched her float, then when she got a strike she seemed to play the fish with ease, knowing when to let it have line and also knowing the right time to reel it in. "She is so clever at a lot of things, she just amazes me, how easily she does some things while I struggle pitifully at them. Leonard also was quite well aware that the only thing holding Penny back from learning physics was simply due to the fact that Penny just did not find it interesting, I'm certain if Penny wanted to learn then nothing would hold her back". And just as he was considering with pride how wonderful his wife is, when Leonard put his hand on to the other rod, and managed to impale the skin of his thumb on the hook. Leonard gave a cry of shock rather than pain, but it was enough for Penny to turn to him, suddenly white faced with fright. But she managed to calm herself and not panic before picking up some side cutters and snipping off the barb she removed the hook from his thumb. Leonard became angry with himself at his own clumsiness and stupidly upsetting Penny, after noticing her shaking tearfully with fright.  
Leonard turned the boat to return to the cabin as Penny had lapsed into a numb silence, after an hour of them arriving at the cabin, Penny was able to recover a little and insisted quite firmly that Leonard help her clean the fish as she had to help him with much of the cleaning of the fish yesterday.

Leonard sat hoping that spending some time quietly watching a movie might help Penny to relax, and Penny was taking full advantage of Leonard's plan, and lay, comfortably fully stretched out on the sofa with her head on Leonard's lap watching the movie _Notting Hill, with a glass of wine before her.  
_ I just love that English accent, Hugh Grant has", She gushed. "Yeah I remember you told me once before", Leonard reminded her.  
"Oh yeah, it was the first time I told you I loved you when you got jealous of that English guy from my college", She recalled.  
"I had to act fast there was a very pretty girl at stake there, I had to take steps to make sure she was mine, in case I lost her forever"  
"Well Dr Hofstadter I'm definitely yours now", she said smiling and holding up her left hand.  
"I Know, I still have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming , Mrs Hofstadter" he told her, and kissed her under her ear causing her to giggle. "you'd better keep telling me that when I'm pregnant and throwing up then becoming the size of a house at 8 months gone. Leonard told her he'd still love her even if she got to the size of their apartment block. Penny kissed him, it then got rather passionate after that.  
It was during that night that the Nightmares began. Leonard was not aware of this during the night but when he got up to make Penny a drink in the morning he was utterly stunned to discover that all his clothes and items had been laid, and placed in a neat line on the floor all the way from the kitchen to the bedroom door. Also chairs too had been moved and placed in front of the external doors.

Leonard was totally at a loss to know what to do, he'd never even heard of such a thing before.

Also Leonard couldn't be sure whether it was him doing these things or Penny?. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**Picnic**

That Morning, after breakfast the honeymooners spent a good deal of the day fishing and then Penny steered the boat round the lake and they examined the shore for interesting areas that they might explore later. And Leonard also took the opportunity to try and photograph some of the local wildlife. "This is how I like to shoot animals", he commented to Penny, "with a camera". "Yes me too sweetie, me too", she happily agreed.

They returned mid afternoon and while Penny refueled the boat, Leonard cleaned the fish and placed them in the freezer, after which he made Penny and himself a coffee, and while Leonard watched a documentary on TV, Penny snuggled up against her husband and read a magazine. But after their excursion earlier, just 25 minutes later found Penny ensconced in Leonard's arms and both of them fast asleep on the sofa, so that by the time they roused themselves it was really too late to cook anything

therefore it was agreed that another visit to the diner would be nice, and as it was a warm evening they decided that they would walk to the diner instead, and the advantage of this Penny pointed out they could both have some wine with their meal.  
Pete then came over to them, and asked Leonard that as he was an expert on computers if Leonard wouldn't mind if he could look at Pete's computer tomorrow evening as the thing was being quite a pain, Leonard not wanting to upset their host, agreed and again wondered how he was going to tell Penny, But surprisingly Penny was absolutely OK with it "That's fine Honey, I'll be OK for a little while", she told him. And though Leonard said nothing the anxiety at leaving Penny alone was clearly evident on his face.

Later after their meal, while walking back to the cabin hand in hand, Leonard pointed out individual stars and showing Penny which ones were galaxy's. Leonard explained how stars worked through nuclear force, strong nuclear force enabled stars to burn while weak nuclear force controlled the rate at which they would burn and how these forces were so incredibly finely balanced that a minute fraction, greater or lesser and the star would not function in that manner at all. Leonard also explained how scientists can tell the hottest stars by their colour , Penny was enthralled as Leonard explained things in a way that Penny could understand, and she wondered why on earth Sheldon couldn't explain things that way when she asked him to teach her about physics some time ago.

But then again, it might be because she had a huge crush on this particular teacher Dr Hofstadter

When they returned to the cabin, Penny was excited to continue her astronomy lesson so she dragged Leonard out to the Jacuzzi and they, lying naked in the water while Penny laying her head on Leonard's chest and she Listened enthralled to Leonard, as she dreamily looked up to the heavens and in her mind she repeated her words of a couple of years ago "Sometimes I forget how smart he is".

An hour later and they climbed into bed, and Penny acting on an idea she had (after learning how she had held tightly to the snowflake during her breakdown) placed it under her pillow and settling down and wrapped in Leonard's arms, she quickly drifted off to sleep, if the nightmares began she could hold her snowflake and the happy memories of it and the feeling of Leonard holding her close to him, would banish the bad dreams away.

The next morning Penny woke early and although woken briefly by the bad visions in her sleep, she had reached for her snowflake and the happy reminders chased the bad ones away.

Penny really felt so good to be alive this morning, she looked fondly over at Leonard who was still sleeping, then she rose and peeped under the blind at the outside world.

It was a beautiful day with a brilliant blue sky with just a few cotton wool clouds dotted here and there, Penny was immediately inspired as to what they would do today and ran into the kitchen started the coffee and began preparing things for their picnic, she fetched a large bag and packed everything in.

Leonard rose and panicked afraid that Penny would see the clothes on the floor and become stressed, or fret again over her self assumed low worth to Leonard. but he was very relieved indeed to see that there was no repeat of the other night's incident, and hoped that perhaps it was a one off and that the snowflake had seemed to work for Penny.

When Leonard, suddenly noticing that Penny was about to open the door to go outside, thought he'd better speak up and quick, "Penny? er Honey, don't you think you ought to get dressed first?.", he pointed out

Penny swiftly shut the door, she only wearing a tiny pair of panties and blushed in embarrassment as she looked at Leonard.

"What were you doing?", he asked her. Penny quickly recovered her excitement, "It's such a lovely day outside, so I though we could have a picnic", "What do you think sweetie?", she asked him hopefully, Giving him the full benefit of her wide open green eyes (Which Leonard could never resist). "I think it's a wonderful idea", he told her, with a broad grin. Penny clapped her hands in joy and poured their coffees out, then when she had drunk her coffee she had a shower and got dressed in a t-shirt and while putting it on, she felt a peculiar twinge in her abdomen and shrugging it off not knowing what it was, though she had experienced that feeling a few times before and continued dressing, donning a pair of shorts and then this time fully dressed, opened the door and loaded the picnic things into the boat, while Leonard had his shower and dressed then came out to her, whereupon he was promptly sent back by a pouting Penny to change his jeans for a pair of shorts.

They sailed the boat towards a beach they had spotted the day before the beach run up to a wide grassy area before disappearing into woodland further on.

They spent some time swimming together and generally frolicking and sunbathing on the beach before sitting down to eat, and as she ate, Penny noticed the change in Leonard after being outdoors instead of in front of a computer screen, and turning from pasty nerd to tanned hunk, At which point Penny began to feel quite happy with the weather being pleasantly warm and Leonard as usual having a particular effect on her.

After they had eaten packed up the picnic things they entered the cool of the forest where Leonard after some encouragement from Penny climbed a small tree before getting stuck and had to be rescued by Penny before returning back across the grass to the beach and the boat, where suddenly, Leonard stopped and bent to inspect a painful cut on his shin at which Penny at the sight of Leonard's slimmer tushy could not help herself and as Leonard stood up she launched herself into his arms and pressing her lips firmly on his.

Penny had never felt better as she lay on top of Leonard, hidden by the long grass, the mixed scent of his Brut aftershave coupled with the sweet scent of the grass and best of all Leonard's natural scent which always had a calming effect on her and when she was not sated like she was at the moment, It also would cause a certain excited feeling inside her which Penny could never resist and she just had to have her fix of some Leonard. And if the scents were not enough there was also the wonderful feeling of his skin against hers, added to his arms around her and Penny as far as she was concerned in paradise. She was quite prepared to lay like that forever had not Leonard suddenly inhale a grass seed which sent him into a coughing fit when a stag, startled by the noise, thundered just by them, causing Penny to giggle but being careful to hold Leonard down in the long grass by the means of her legs wrapped round his waist, lest they were seen if Leonard jumped up. "I thought the phrase was don't frighten the horses, but I think deer should be included in there too". Leonard smiled as Penny regretfully moved off of her husband and they lay together side by side holding hands and looking at the clouds picking out shapes from them. "that one looks like a pig",said Leonard pointing up at the sky,

"That one looks like a car", Penny said pointing to yet another. Leonard Jokingly said as he pointed to another one, "That one looks like Sheldon", "You're making that up", Penny disputed, then she pointed to another one," That ones got a face like a baby", Penny was about to say but stopped at the 'b' as a very peculiar feeling came over her.

"Pardon!, Got a face like a what?, honey", Leonard asked puzzled, but Penny deep in thought didn't hear him.  
"Are you OK honey?", Leonard asked her. "yes I'm fine sweetie, but perhaps it might be best if we get dressed now", and as they donned their clothes, Penny just could not shake off that strange feeling at seeing that last image on the cloud, Penny was quite convinced that it meant something for her, with her woman's intuition she just knew, but if she was what would Leonard say?, they had made plans in the future for a family but not right now. And if she was then how would it affect her relationship with Leonard? She wanted so much to discuss it with Leonard but the only evidence was a feeling she had. Besides she remembered Leonard's reaction to psychics, some time ago.

They returned back to the cabin and Leonard after giving Penny a kiss left for the diner to look at Pete's computer.

Leonard was a little worried at leaving Penny as she had seemed so preoccupied since they came back from the beach, but he did not want to break his word to Pete, so he went anyway.

Five minutes after Leonard left, Penny went into action.  
Opening the cookbook at the right page she began to prepare a meal, and while it was cooking she prepared the table with white cloth, candles and some purple serviettes (left over from their reception).

Leonard ran anti virus and anti malware programs cleared the '%temp%' cache and soon Pete's computer was soon running smoothly though rather on the slow side, "You really need to upgrade, this machine is quite old now and Microsoft will be ending support for this operating system next month , Leonard told Pete, "Thanks Leonard, I'm afraid I don't know much about these things, do you think you could pick a good one out and if you give me the details I'll be much obliged to you".

"Okay Pete I'll have a look on the net tomorrow, and while I'm at it I'll have a look at your ISP and see if you can get a better deal on that too", Then Leonard stood to reach for his jacket to get back to Penny, "that'll be great Leonard, here let me express my thanks by offering you a drink?", then strangely, just when Pete was about to get the drinks, Janey appeared and gave Pete a nod, at which point suddenly remembering that Penny was on her own in the cabin then said, "Sorry Leonard, I forgot, I shouldn't be keeping you from your wife, should I?", Pete told him. Leonard thankfully agreed and with assurance to Pete to provide details of a new machine tomorrow.

"Leonard seemed tense this evening, I noticed", Janey observed to Pete. "He seemed alright to me", Pete replied shrugging his shoulders, "I suppose it may be down to all that they have been through recently I guess?", He added.

All the time Penny was preparing the meal, she was deliberating, " _What if I am pregnant though, how would Leonard be if I told him I was pregnant?, would he be pleased or not?, He did say we would start a family later, but now?, what if I'm mistaken and I'm not?"_ , Now that the idea of her being pregnant had entered her mind, Penny found that it had become her greatest desire apart from Leonard and now she wanted it more than anything. It was no good she will have to talk to Leonard about it, Tonight.

Leonard entered the cabin and was stunned, The table was laid with candles in the middle and candles dotted around the room, some smooth jazz was playing softly in the background but best of all, there was his Penny, looking absolutely stunning in an evening gown and her hair styled on top of her head, she just took his breath away. "Wow it was no wonder really that Penny got hit on all the time", Leonard thought to himself.

"You've just got time for a shower and change before dinner Honey", she told him.

Leonard gave her his special smile that was always just for her. Then went and had his shower, then on entering the bedroom he saw his suit laid on the bed ready for him to wear and he promptly put it on .

"What's the occasion Penny?", Leonard puzzled, hoping against hope he hadn't forgotten a date or something.  
"Well as you know sweetie, my cooking is a bit limited and now I am your wife and that means that I have responsibilities now towards you, and I really want to learn so for my very first lesson in cooking properly and by myself, I made it a special occasion and it's also because I love you so much" she informed him wrapping her arms round his neck and kissing him.

In spite of her preoccupation Penny did quite well and the Co q-au-vin was delicious, Penny poured him a glass of Liebfraumilch but stuck to sparkling mineral water for herself . After dinner Penny put on her Ipod play list on which were some of her mothers and favourites that Penny too had come to love, Gladys Knight and the pips, the Stylistics and other love songs, and they began to dance , holding each other close.

Penny now feeling fatigued sat down with Leonard and began to tell him about the cloud with the image of a baby's face, and how she had this uncanny feeling that she might be pregnant .

Leonard thought for a while thinking things through, "Well Penny the thought of being married to you was beyond my wildest dreams let alone even having a child with you, which to me is as exciting as if I I'd discovered how to create cold fusion".

"So what are you saying, cold, that's bad right", Penny quizzed with a frown.

"No that's wonderful Penny, cold fusion is the holy grail of science discovery, It's marvelous honey", Leonard told her with a broad grin, then added, "I know I said we would start a family later because I didn't want to put any pressure on you now, but If you are expecting then I am completely over the Moon", and he hugged her tightly.

"Be careful Leonard you might hurt the baby", Penny giggled, then added seriously "But what about my illness?, how are we going to cope?", Penny questioned.

"We will Penny, I will always be with you and together we will see this thing through".

As the evening was warm they walked outside and stood looking at the stars, with Leonard pointing out to Penny some of the constellations, when they suddenly saw, streaking across the sky a shooting star and though neither of them discussed their wish, Penny and Leonard's wish was the same.

The next day though Leonard discovered his clothes laid in a line and yet again the external doors blocked by furniture. And after hastily putting things back the way they were Leonard looked for the location of psychiatrists in the local area. Penny needed professional help, and even more so if she is pregnant.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

 **Anxiety**

The Journey to the Psychiatrist in North Platte was a very unpleasant one for both of them. As soon as Leonard had told Penny about the line of clothes and the chairs, Penny immediately flew into panic mode, and at once wondered whether her mental state was deteriorating and again questioned her own value to Leonard and possibly, also her child if she was as her intuition informed her, pregnant.

Leonard too was feeling miserable as he had badly upset his Penny, a thing that Leonard hated doing, therefore the journey was carried out in a very heavy silence.

The Psychiatrist reminded Penny very much of Amy, I.E. the long hair, the glasses, and the keen analytical mind. "Now then. let's see, Dr and Mrs Hofstadter. Is that a medical Doctor or political or something else?", she asked Leonard. "PHD", Leonard replied.

As Leonard began to fill in Dr Goldman of the history of their recent ordeals, Penny as she was listening to Leonard felt very uncomfortable in being reminded and requested if she could go to the powder room. Once Penny had left Leonard continued with their case histories and Dr Goldman frowned as she heard about Leonard's recollection of past events.

"How was your childhood?, she asked Leonard. Leonard at once felt on edge as he strongly felt Penny needed help and could not understand why Dr Goldman was wasting valuable time on him.

But Leonard felt it prudent to cooperate and told her about his cold upbringing by his Mother, "And I could never show my feelings in front of her, really, if I was down she'd tell me to buck up, and if I was happy she would tell me to act like an adult, really I just could not seem to do anything right as far as she was concerned". And at that Point Penny returned and Dr Goldman asked if she could speak to Penny alone, so Leonard, now feeling pleased that at last he was getting somewhere and Penny would be getting the help she needs, left for the rest room.

"tell me Penny, who recovered first?". "well Leonard awoke from his coma, I can't remember how many weeks it was but it was some time before I, I", Penny began but found herself at a loss for words.

"so when was Leonard informed of your condition?", Dr Goldman asked her.

"It was a little while after he came out of his coma", Penny replied, now puzzled as to why this Doctor was asking about Leonard, and not about herself?.

"Do you have any knowledge of how he reacted to the news of your condition?".

"My friend Bernadette told me that they had to hold him down to stop him from leaving there and going to see me. Oh yes I remember, and they also had to heavily sedate him to calm him down at all", Penny replied now at a loss as to why she was asking all these questions on Leonard.

"So then, tell me how does Leonard regard you?", Dr Goldman asked Penny, her demeanour had become almost excited as if she had grasped some insight as to this strange behaviour.

"He has always treated me with the utmost respect and extraordinary kindness. Why, even when we were broke up, Leonard would always help me and check that I was keeping well. here", she said retrieving the snowflake from her purse, "Leonard brought me this all the way from the North Pole".

Dr Goldman inspected the snowflake, "Wow that is so romantic", she said, handing back the snowflake.

"Isn't it though. Leonard would do absolutely anything for me, I guess it's no wonder I married him", Penny told her, smiling from ear to ear.

"Right, now then Penny I am certain that these strange actions are not yours, but Leonard's. If I am right he will succumb to anger when I confront him with my evidence, please whatever you do don't be angry with him over his actions, he has been suffering for quite a long time and his upbringing, added to the break up between you , and his recent reaction over you has affected him badly. Really, I have read several of his mother's books and my God is that woman a cold fish, or what!", Dr Goldman told her seriously.

"Yep it's not the first time my Mother in law has been described as a walking icicle", Penny told her.

Dr Goldman sent for Leonard and after he was sat on the couch alongside Penny. Dr Goldman Began.

"OK Leonard, could you describe the line of clothes for me?",

Leonard could not understand where on earth the clothes had to do with anything, really this Doctor is just wasting time, Penny needs help now. And with growing tension in his voice, Leonard reeled off the order they were placed from the bedroom door onwards. "Boxers, socks, trousers, shirt, a hoodie, then my shoes, and my cell and my wallet were placed in front of them".

"I see, and the chairs they were placed where?", Dr Goldman asked.

Leonard's anger began to rise, "I told you that earlier, the chairs were against the external doors", then standing up Leonard's rage burst forth, Why are you asking silly questions and wasting time?, Penny needs help, please".

Penny stood and wrapped Leonard in her arms, to try to calm him down.

"you see Leonard, as a Physicist you place great importance on logic. So I want you to please consider the logic of the clothes, they were placed in a manner to expedite the donning of them in the order one dresses as though one was dressing in a hurry. The chairs too were placed to prevent egress, to keep someone in the cabin, not as a prisoner, but to protect them and keep them safe", Dr Goldman calmly explained, despite Leonard's outburst.

And finally as he thought her theory through, Leonard broke down into great racking sobs, "I couldn't bear to lose her again, she's my whole world to me, and at that Penny too began crying with him, why couldn't she see that Leonard was suffering so much?, she cursed herself for breaking up with Leonard, and adding to his distress, for crying out loud, she knew even then that Leonard was a great guy?, what a stupid fool she was".

Once the newlyweds had recovered Dr Goldman told Penny that it was only once Penny had left that Dr Goldman noticed the extreme anxiety that Leonard was enduring, I.E. the constant wringing of his hands, his frequent glances towards the door, that alerted Dr Goldman to his condition at all, and as long as he was with Penny he didn't display the symptoms, also Penny could do nothing whatsoever to change the past, both of them needed to recover and look to the future together and the unbreakable bond of love that exists between them would be sure to see them through these difficult times, truly I must say I have never believed in the saying they were made for each other but for me you two have proved to me that it is absolutely true.

Leonard was prescribed something to help with his anxiety and he apologized to Dr Goldman for his anger.

Dr Goldman told him his apology was not needed as the anger was all part of his anxiety, then feeling so much calmer, He left hand in hand with Penny.

After leaving the Psychiatrist, they decided to visit a diner in order to help them to take stock of this new situation with Leonard. They both decided They'd have Pancakes and bacon where Penny had hers literally swimming in maple syrup, and while Leonard had coffee, Penny though opted for orange juice.

As she was eating Penny was suddenly struck with an amazing thought that pleased her immensely, and a little giggle from her, motivated Leonard to ask her what was up.

"Well Honey do you remember the words I wrote in that card I had Wolowitz give to you?", "yep, they are indelibly etched in my memory", Leonard replied.

"Well it seems that BOTH of us would go crazy without the other, and I just thought it was so wonderful, we are both in this for a very long time, and it makes me feel so very secure. And perhaps now I can stop worrying that you'll wake up and leave me for someone else", Penny observed, breaking out into a huge smile at the thought of it.

"Leonard thought it through for a little while before telling Penny, "The way we both feel about each other, I think that it's quite probably going to be us forever". He told her. And at that Penny just wanted to jump in his lap and bestow the longest kiss ever on the husband she adored and so wished that everyone else would just disappear so she could do just that.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

 **Visiting**

Leonard leisurely sipped his coffee as he and Penny had just finished breakfast in the Diner when his face suddenly took on a worried frown, "Oh my God, whatever you do please, don't let on to Sheldon we visited North Platte", he warned Penny. "Why is that?", Penny asked him.

"Because North Platte is home to the biggest railroad yard in the U.S. And if we told Sheldon Cooper we had been near the Bailey yard; he would either then bore us for hours telling us about it's history, and you know Sheldon and trains, or quite likely he would fly into a strop and just sulk for days, and believe me both scenarios would be extremely unpleasant", Leonard explained.

"Oh my God yes, we would certainly have to keep our mouths shut, I just never could stand his long lectures, let alone understand them, and as for his sulks, it doesn't bear thinking about", Penny agreed, shuddering.

"So why did you keep asking him 'why', when you knew his replies were usually over an hour in explanation?", Leonard asked.

"Hey I'm stupid, OK Hofstadter", she replied smiling at him.

"So what would you like to do now?", Leonard asked Penny.

"Well as we have Sheldon's gift, I rather fancy a spot of retail therapy, I sure need it after what happened this morning", Penny suggested, then feeling afraid she had upset Leonard with the reminder of his ordeal that morning she reached out and took his hands in hers, "I'm sorry honey, I love you".

But Leonard waved her apology away, "It's OK, I love you too. Now then Mrs Hofstadter would you like to accompany me to the mall, My Lady?".

"Why Sir, that would be wonderful", she replied and Penny fluttered her lashes for dramatic effect as she took his hand.

As soon as they entered the Mall Penny gave a squeal of delight and immediately rushed for the bath and body works store, Leonard followed her, but on opening the door a conglomeration of scents assaulted his nostrils and so he decided to wait outside for her. And that was Leonard's day. He waited for her while she had her hair and nails done while on guard duty with the three bags containing shower gel, body lotion, scented candles, soaps and whatever else Penny had collected, He waited while she tried on some shoes, then more waiting while she chose some cosmetics. Until finally at the appropriately named Vanity where he waited over an hour while she tried on clothes, then to Leonard's relief, Penny decided it was time for dinner, but Leonard felt it was all worth it as the huge smile on Penny's face was priceless. However as they drove round searching for a restaurant, suddenly to Penny's great delight they came across 'Penny's Diner' and their search stopped there. And after a cheeseburger and chips (fries), (Penny), and a burger and chips (Leonard) and over coffee, they sat and talked together of their plans for the future.

"I guess we need to start looking for a bigger apartment, I mean even with the two of us it will be cramped, but if I am pregnant, it will be even harder to live in 4b when the Baby gets bigger?", Penny observed.

"yes you're right and I still have a lot of my stuff in 4b and if we move all that in we will be hardly able to move with just the two of us", Leonard agreed.

"Also I must confess, I hate my job Leonard, and I want to quit. I hate having to flirt with Doctors just to make sales, I mean, I know that that was me when I was younger, but it's not who I am now. I have only one man in my life now and he is the only one I want to flirt with, and that's you", Penny admitted earnestly.

"Leonard carefully considered her request, He too found the idea distasteful, especially when a certain Dr Lorvis showed up with a bunch of flowers for Penny having misconstrued her flirting that she was somehow interested in him and even a couple of female medics too had expressed amorous interest in Penny. No, Penny was right. Leonard too had had enough of people ogling his beautiful wife. "You're right Honey. Why don't you quit as soon as we return to Pasadena", Leonard told her "did you want to return to acting?", Leonard asked.

"I would have liked to, but at my last audition there were loads of young pretty girls all applying for the part, and as I looked at them I had to face the facts, I had no chance, in fact I stunk up the place, so sadly dream over for me I guess. And quite frankly the older I get, the less work, if any, I will able to get, I'm sorry sweetie, I remember when we argued abut this some time ago, but you were right, and it was always my dream and I just didn't want to accept the truth then.

It is the hardest thing to do. Do you know how many would be hopefuls like me are entering the acting profession, and what fraction of them make it big, it's just a tiny handful in comparison. And it would be hard for me now. And if I am pregnant, well.", Penny sadly explained

"I'm sorry Honey, but you will always be the biggest star there ever was as far as I'm concerned", Leonard smiled as he told her.

Penny's sad look vanished behind a huge smile, that was all she ever wanted now, to be loved and cared for by this wonderful man. "Thank you Honey, that really makes me feel so much better", and she gently cupped his cheek in warm appreciation.

Though Penny was determined now to be an equal partner in doing her bit to contribute to the finances. She hated relying on Leonard when she was a waitress at the cheesecake factory, though Leonard was an absolute sweetie and never complained, though he often tried to educate her on managing her finances better, but Penny's esteem was quite low back then and spending always made her feel better, well at least until her credit card statement arrived.

They finished their coffee and made their way back to the cabin, where Penny after putting away her purchases had a shower then changed into her pajamas, and opened a bottle of fruit juice and snuggled against Leonard she watched Star wars with him, as it was Leonard's turn to pick a film to watch. But whether due to her shopping excursion or the comfy feeling snuggled up to her husband, Penny fell asleep.

And Leonard watched the end of Star Wars accompanied by Penny's gentle snoring. He gently picked his wife up in his arms and carried her to the bed before turning off the T.V. And the lights he then joined her, in slumber.

The next Morning Leonard awoke to find Penny still asleep, and as he watched her sleeping, Leonard, for the umpteenth time, tried to understand how on earth he was ever able to make this stunningly beautiful woman his wife, the thought of it alone all those years ago was his wildest dream.

Then carefully getting up without waking her he went into the kitchen and started the coffee and began to prepare a breakfast of egg, bacon, pancakes and maple syrup and bringing it into the bedroom and placing the tray on the side table he woke Penny with a kiss, "Breakfast sleepy head", he said softly. Penny rolled, stretched and sat up smelling the coffee then spotting the breakfast, "Lovely, thanks sweetie, will I get this every morning?", she asked smiling up at him.

"Afraid not honey I will have to go back to work soon I guess", he replied.

"How are you feeling?", he asked her, hoping that she would have a better idea if she was pregnant or not.

"I feel just the same honey, It's just that peculiar feeling I had yesterday after I saw that cloud, And I can't take a test yet until at least a couple of weeks have passed, I hope I am because now I think I might be, I so really, really want to be", she sadly replied.

Well where do you want to go today?, he said changing the subject.  
"Well first I want to go to the diner, Then I thought we could go to Ogalalla and visit front street and boot hill, it's like going back to the days of the wild west"

"But the diner isn't open yet till the afternoon?", Leonard puzzled.

"I have to go to thank Janey and Pete for keeping you away while I cooked dinner and got dressed up", she giggled.

"I thought something was going on, as they acted strangely when I had finished working on Pete's computer ", Leonard declared. "I know,But Pete's computer was not running properly, and I knew you could fix it so I talked it over with Janey and we planned it together", she said hugging him.

At the diner Janey invited them in for a coffee and Penny chatted to her as Leonard was showing Pete some of the new models as suitable replacements for Pete's old computer.

"Are you OK Penny?", Janey asked her "as you seem to be a bit spaced out today?".

"Actually, please don't tell anyone, But I think I might be pregnant", And she told Janey about what happened the day before." That's wonderful Penny I'm so pleased for you; if you are that is, now you just said you had a queasy feeling in your stomach yesterday?, Janey questioned.

"No it was a sort of twinge inside me, I've had it before but never as strong as it was yesterday?", Penny replied.

"it sounds to me like you were ovulating, passing an egg, so as you had sex yesterday there's a good chance you are pregnant, unless you're on the pill that is?", Janey asked her.

"I was, but I forgot to bring them with me, then with the excitement of coming here with Leonard I forgot to get some more, Oh Janey, I really hope I am, And Leonard is so excited about the baby, I'd hate to disappoint him", Penny stated passionately.

"And please don't tell Leonard I told you but I really needed to speak to another woman about it", Penny pleaded

"Penny I see Leonard's face when he looks at you,, I don't think you can ever disappoint him, But don't worry, I won't say anything to him", Janey promised her. Then Penny & Leonard left for Ogalalla.

They arrived at Front Street a replica of an 1800's western main street with a real bar in the saloon  
and a Jail, Leonard joked he could have been the sheriff but Penny told him he would have more likely to have been the store owner, at which Leonard feeling a little hurt at this until Penny said "You aren't going all strawberry pop tart on me are you?". At which Leonard laughed and things were smoothed over especially when Penny hugged and kissed him just as a young hunky guy had started to come over to ask for a date, Then he stopped looking incredulously at them before turning back to the bar shaking his head. They had a meal in the saloon and Penny still stuck to her mineral water, then they looked round the souvenir shop before making their way to Boot Hill an 1800's graveyard, "To get in touch with my Nebraskan history", Many of the graves were unknown and some were just marked Pauper.

In the early days of the town though the population was only about 130 the cemetery held over 100 people which spoke volumes about the violent times in those days particularly between the cowboys driving the cattle north from Texas to the Union Pacific railroad, and the couple looked at all of them with interest until Penny spotted one of a young woman who had died in childbirth and was buried along with her stillborn baby, and at this Penny got quite upset, and Leonard took her back to the cabin.

They arrived back at the cabin and Leonard saw that Penny had fallen asleep, noting worriedly how pale she looked, Leonard opened the cabin then returning for Penny, He gently picked her up and carefully carried her inside and laid her on the bed covering her over with a blanket. Leonard was worried, was her distress down to her illness or her possible pregnancy or both?, Leonard wished he knew.

He decided that while Penny was sleeping he would barbecue some of the fish they had caught which were in the freezer and started preparing everything.

The phone rang and Leonard quickly answered it before it could wake Penny, "Oh good it's you Leonard, listen Penny's Mom has sent on a package for you it's here at the diner if you would like to collect it", Janey told him.

Leonard was delighted as it was his wedding present to Penny. "Great!, I've been waiting for that, I'll be right over, thanks for ringing", and he ended the call.

He checked on Penny but she was still sleeping, so he quickly made his way to the diner and retrieved the package from Janey, thanking her profusely, he then quickly retraced his steps back to the cabin.

Entering the cabin and seeing that Penny was still asleep, he lit the barbecue, then made some dressing for the salad and made some coffee. Later finishing his coffee and finding the barbecue to be ready he put the fish on it then squeezed some lemon juice over them and watched them cook.

Penny woke up, puzzling at where she was then realizing she was back in the cabin, she then called Leonard in a slight panic, hoping he hadn't left her alone. "I'm here honey, just cooking the fish for our dinner, would you like a coffee?", he asked her.

Penny replied in the affirmative and joined him in the kitchen, then taking her coffee from him they went out to the barbecue, where Leonard turned the fish over then handed her the package.

"Here you are honey, It's my wedding present to you", Penny turned to Leonard her green eyes wide with delight as she began to open the package.

Inside a small jewelry box, she found a pair of earrings and a matching pendant, on which two gold intertwined hearts below a gold six pointed star with a diamond in the middle of it. Penny puzzled at the star. "why a star Leonard?", she asked.

"its not a star its the ice pattern of a snowflake under a microscope, you see no two snowflakes have the same pattern they are all different", Leonard informed her.

"Oh it's lovely Leonard, a snowflake, how clever", Penny told him, delighted with her present.

"In fact that pattern **IS** your snowflake, you see I looked at your snowflake under an electron microscope when I was in the Arctic and took a photo of it, and that is the actual pattern of it, I just sent a picture of it to the jeweler with my design and he made it for me, you see our Pattern is unique, there just as I feel our marriage will be, in my mind it will be so special that there will never be one like it ever, our love is special".

All Penny could say was "Leonard", she was lost for any other words, And so overcome with emotion was she that she hugged him tightly and burst into tears, though happy ones.

Penny insisted that she wear them now and wore them as they ate the meal Leonard prepared for them and ever after, she would treasure them all her days.

They spent the evening watching another film appropriately entitled nine months. But Penny, her head on Leonard's lap, fell asleep again before the end.

Leonard, after putting her to bed before getting in himself, fretted at her increasing tiredness and was glad she was seeing Dr Goldman tomorrow.

The next morning they sat and read while sunbathing outside ( _as Penny's appointment with Dr Goldman wasn't till the afternoon_ ), When the telephone rang, Penny went to answer it, "Hello, Dr Gabelhauser how nice to hear from you", Penny politely told him. Dr Gabelhauser congratulated her on her marriage to Leonard, and Penny thanked him then he asked if he could speak to Leonard. Penny handed the phone to Leonard hoping that Dr Gabelhauser didn't have more work for Leonard, as she went to her lounger and lay down to read her magazine, ten minutes later Leonard came back looking stunned. "Are you OK honey?", Penny asked "It's not more work for you to do, is it?". "No, in fact you'll never believe it but they have offered me Tenure at Cal Tech", Leonard told her "He said he was impressed with my previous work and also that I had sorted the data so quickly and accurately and as I am now married, it makes me more stable than single guys and in fact, just the man for the job?".

"Honey, that's wonderful, I'm so proud of you, but before you get too carried away, what about Sheldon, he's going to go up in flames when he hears this"

"Well much as that bothers me, I'm afraid 'WE' are my priority not Sheldon, It's not my fault Dr Gabelhauser chose me is it?", Leonard surmised. "And also sweetie don't forget that there may be a little one to think of too", Penny reminded him patting her stomach.

As they drove into North Platte for Penny's appointment they were in a traffic queue waiting at the lights when to the right of them some cops had pulled over a driver who was drunk and irate, and were reading him his rights, when emerging out of the passenger door of the beat up old car, a young heavily pregnant blonde came towards the drunk to try and calm him down, only to receive some of the vilest verbal abuse from him, blaming her for his plight the poor woman then burst into tears at his mistreatment of her.

Penny went white and started shaking, the woman looked the same age as her and the guy looked just like all those muscular handsome jerks she used to go for, the past immediately came into her mind when in her apartment one evening she was telling Amy and Bernadette that life with Leonard was boring and she was going to break up with him. This was why Penny started shaking with emotion at how close she came to throwing it all away and ending up like that poor woman saddled with a drunken jerk, just because she foolishly missed the excitement.

"is it okay if I go in alone honey" she asked Leonard I really need some girl to girl talk.

Leonard assented to her request and told her he would wait in the waiting area, though he would like to speak to Dr Goldman too.

Penny walked into Dr Goldman's consulting room when summoned. Straight away Dr Goldman could see that something was wrong and asked Penny If she was feeling OK, and Penny explained about the scene she witnessed on the way here, and how closely that could have been her and it had just grieved her that she ever thought Leonard was boring, she then showed her the pendant and earrings he had bought her. How thrilled she felt at the feeling she might be having his baby, Then she burst into tears. It took Dr Goldman half an hour to calm Penny down telling her that the point was she was now married to Leonard and she didn't throw her happiness away she has it now and she, needs to calm down or it could affect the baby, and she wouldn't want that would she?, Penny shook her head, She wanted this baby more than anything in the whole wide world, she told Dr Goldman. Then Penny feeling better returned to the waiting area and Leonard went in to see the Doctor. "Hello Leonard, Penny said you had something to ask me?" Dr Goldman greeted him.

Leonard told her about Penny feeling she may be pregnant, but he didn't know what he could do for her if it turned out negative."I see, that could be a problem, unfortunately we can't shield her from unpleasant things so the best thing to do would be to tell her often how valuable to you she is, keep telling her how much you love her It's the only way to handle the tremendous disappointment she'll feel", Dr Goldman instructed.

Leonard could not help feeling the tears starting to build as he thought to himself how valuable?, ' _Penny is the whole world to me'_. Dr Goldman gave him time to compose himself then handed him the contact details of a psychiatrist in Pasadena that she wanted Penny to see. Penny, while waiting for Leonard, fixed firmly in her memory the image of the drunk and the poor woman. Then if she ever felt bored again that memory will certainly prevent her from throwing happiness away.

Then Leonard returned back to the waiting area. And Thence in turn, to return back to the cabin.

The next few days of their honey moon they spent a happy time Boating, sunbathing and the occasional meals at the diner not to mention frequent use of the Jacuzzi. And Penny was still fiercely determined to stick to her healthy diet of salads, fish and mineral water.

Finally the last day of their honeymoon came and Penny said her rather tearful goodbyes to Janey (who was a _lso in_ tears) and Pete

thanking them profusely for letting them stay in their cabin and the use of their boat, Penny and Leonard drove back to Wyatt's farm but both determined to return to Lake McConaughy, or Big Mac as the locals named it.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

 **Housing**

They arrived back at the farm in the late afternoon and as Penny walked towards the house, Leonard meanwhile, who was busily engaged in unloading the car had stopped to remove his glasses to clean the lenses, when Penny's sister Jan at once seeing a tanned and fit Leonard, openly ogled him, unknown to Leonard but not to Penny who immediately felt uncomfortably insecure "Jan! Please don't", Penny asked her, the distress over Jan's leering at Leonard clearly evident on her face "OK", Jan pouted " no need to panic, I guess I am just seeing what you have always seen, but how did he go suddenly from nerd to hot?", "It's always been there, and you know that is just half of what makes Leonard attractive", "Are you referring to what I think you're referring to?", Jan asked her wide eyed.

"No, I'm not. Get your mind out of the gutter Jan. No I mean Leonard is also sweet and so kind. He goes to extraordinary lengths just to make me happy. And I'm so lucky to have found him. Truly, he came into my life and made it wonderful" Penny explained, as her face just lit up as she listed Leonard's qualities. "And he's mine forever, OK". Penny warned Jan quite firmly. And at one look at her sisters face Jan saw something else that had been hidden from her until that day, Her sisters absolute adoration for Leonard. "Wow Girl, I just can't believe you got it so bad, I ain't never seen you to be so strongly hung up on a guy as you are with Leonard?". "He's just very special", Penny barely whispered to her sister, as she watched her husband carry their bags from the car.

And if Leonard wasn't busy with the bags, his cheeks would have burned.

However, two weeks of Penny, sunshine and fishing over the last two weeks, had given Leonard more get-up-and-go, and after taking their bags up to their room he asked Penny if she would like to go somewhere for a meal and a drink and perhaps dancing ( _Leonard had decided on the night before the wedding that he would certainly need to do more of the things that Penny was interested in, in order to keep them strong as a couple_ ). But Penny slumped on the sofa was too tired, Leonard was worried as again she looked quite pale too.

After they had dinner Penny showed her parents Leonard's wedding present, Marcia, Penny's Mom, upon learning of the significance of the snowflake pattern, said ,with her eyes beginning to tear up, "Oh that is so romantic Penny", she exclaimed. Shortly after Penny began to doze off and begged Leonard on being roused by him if he would carry her up to bed, and her last thoughts that evening were "He is no nerd", as he carried her easily up the stairs to her bed.

The next morning Leonard brought Penny up a cup of coffee and tried to wake her but Penny angrily shook him off seemingly unable to wake up Leonard knew that Penny never liked waking early but this was 10:55 and it was very unusual for Penny to get as angry as that and she still looked pale and Fatigued despite sleeping all night from 20:30 pm the previous evening, Leonard decided it was time she saw a Doctor.

Doctor Thomas arrived a couple of hours later and Penny was still slumbering, his experience of many years as a practitioner told him that this was a reaction to a virus ,so he questioned Leonard, if they had been anywhere recently and Leonard explained about their honeymoon at Lake McConaughey. Dr Thomas then concluded that Penny was having a rare reaction to an insect bite but he could not give her anything now as he would have to take a sample of blood from her for tests first , Though Leonard was not to worry as it wasn't serious, then after a sample of blood was taken from Penny, Leonard told him that Penny might be pregnant, and Dr Thomas reassured him that Penny's own immune system would protect the foetus, He then gave Leonard the number to ring for the results of the blood test and then left.

Leonard was restless after weeks of being together with Penny, with his worry for her, as well as her absence now, made him uncomfortable

So Wyatt showed him some farm chores he could do to keep his mind occupied, and Leonard worked hard.

The next day Leonard rang and received the results of the blood test and was instructed on the drug and dosage to give Penny. And as soon as he got off the phone he went to a pharmacy.

Penny woke but still felt very tired, but she had to get out of bed as to her immense shame she had slept so much she had wet the bed, she slowly made her way to the shower removed her shorts and Leonard's T shirt ( _another Idea of hers to stop the nightmares as it had Leonard's scent on it_ )

then naked and puzzling over the plaster on her arm, she had a shower, dried and put on fresh clothes then laid on the dry part of the bed and slept.

Leonard returned an hour later then went up to Penny and woke her with some difficulty, gave her a dose of the antibiotics and then laid beside her to hold her then quickly getting up in surprise at the large wet patch on his shirt and trousers. "I forgot to tell you, I wet the bed she sleepily told him. And what did you do to my arm?", she quizzed, and he told her about the blood test and the virus from the insect bite. "An Insect I thought it was you getting too excited?", she teased

Leonard then spent the rest of the afternoon washing the bedding and cleaning the mattress.

At last the day to do the pregnancy test arrived and Penny had the previous day had picked up five different tests while shopping with her sister and her mother, seizing the opportunity to buy them when the two women had gone for a bathroom break, Penny didn't feel able to tell them yet in case she wasn't pregnant.

That afternoon Penny ( _after drinking three bottles of mineral water_ ) peed on all five indicators , and with Leonard, waited on tenterhooks for the time to elapse.  
" _It's so peculiar, many times before, I hoped for a negative a result, but now I'm really dreading a negative one_ ", she thought, then turning to Leonard she put her arms round him burying her head in his shoulder "Oh honey I don't think I could cope with it if I'm not pregnant", Leonard stroked her hair but now he had been thinking about being a Father, even he looked positively sick at the thought of his Penny having a negative result.

Finally as the last second wound down Leonard examined the tests ( _as Penny just could not bear to look_ ) _,_ His shout of joy at seeing all five showing positive made Penny start, then after seeing them for herself she burst into tears and hugged Leonard so tightly he thought his ribs would crack, "Leonard", she said "we're going to be parents" then with Penny in tears, they rushed downstairs to announce their happy news.

The collective shout of joy could probably heard clear across Nebraska as Marcia and Jan both rushed to hug Penny while Wyatt shook Leonard's hand, then had to leave in order to hide a few tears and compose himself after seeing how incredibly happy Penny looked. Leonard then found himself in another bear-hug from Marcia.

Later, after the excitement had died down, Penny rang and told Janey her happy news.

And later Leonard was sitting with Penny in the lounge as Penny looked up some information on pregnancy on Leonard's Laptop. "Penny, we need to talk", Leonard said.

"That sounds like you're about to break up with me?", she joked. "Certainly not, not now I finally got you to marry me honey" he replied. "No I mean we need to talk about things like putting your name on my savings and current bank accounts, and we need to start looking for a house now that we have a baby on the way".

"yes, I really can't see us being able to live in my apartment with all three of us, and as to buying a house how much can we afford?, my savings have dwindled right down since my illness and you yourself said our funds were a little low?, so how much have we got?".

Leonard got on his laptop and accessed his savings account. Penny goggled at the figure displayed there, "I thought we were nearly broke?, Leonard there's over $600,000 dollars here?".  
"That's my savings account I've been saving like forever, and my grandmother left me some money when she died, also I got paid quite well from the hawking trip, also my salary as a tenured professor should increase now. but I was actually referring to my current account and now I guess we should look online for suitable houses in Pasadena, if only to give us some idea of prices".  
Penny felt rather helpless financially, as her savings were down to $10 and her bank account was only showing an amount of $150 , but now she was Leonard's wife and she felt very strongly her need to contribute towards the house and other things. She considered her career again, now she was pregnant, she didn't want to return to waiting on tables, that was even worse than having to flirt with Doctors. She remembered back to the days at the cheesecake factory, getting hit on by guys, enduring their lewd comments, not to mention the lousy tips. She then thought of maybe getting a college degree but she just couldn't think of what subject she could take that she would excel at?.

And all these hard facts contributed to Penny feeling pretty depressed.

Leonard meanwhile was still looking at real estate websites then spotting one likely candidate he pointed to it saying, "what do you think about that one honey?", he asked her, then noticing her downcast face he put an arm round her shoulders and asked "what's up honey, you OK?".

Penny explained how she was feeling at being unable to contribute and Leonard told her he knew she was clever enough, and he had full confidence in her to find a solution, ( _knowing how important to Penny this was_ ).

Penny then felt a little better and looked at the house details. but they decided against the location of it.

Then Wyatt asked Leonard for assistance in the barn, so Penny looked at some more houses, as Leonard went to help Wyatt.

When they entered the barn. Wyatt turned to Leonard and spoke, "Listen son, you and Penny will be needing to buy a house, now I've got $100,000 I want you to take it, I asked you to take care of her and if I can make it easier for you to do that I will", Leonard more than a little overwhelmed by his father in law's gesture explained that he had the money and said, "I appreciate your offer Wyatt, but I love Penny very much and It's really up to me now to look after her and truly, It has been my dream to do so from the first time I saw her". Wyatt smiled "Well son you just spoke like a good man would, I must say I'm mighty proud of the both of you", Then slapping Leonard on the back he offered him a drink back in the house.

Later in the kitchen, Marcia smiled to herself as she watched Penny mixing some cake mixture, "I can't believe how determined she is to learn to cook ( _for while Leonard worked with Wyatt or on his laptop, Penny would often be found in the kitchen with her cookbooks and also receiving instruction from her mother, Marcia_ ) "Love sure is a great motivator, I could never get her the slightest bit interested in cooking before she married Leonard". Marcia thought.

Soon It was time to return to Pasadena as Leonard had to return to Cal-Tech and they still had to look for a house, also Penny had the first of her sessions due from the Psychiatrist in Pasadena.  
Leonard instructed Wyatt and Marcia how to use MSN video chat and Skype so that they could keep up to date with Penny 's pregnancy.

And the next morning they made their way back to Pasadena.

Sheldon's homeostasis was coming apart at the seams Not only was Leonard now married, and expecting a baby and now he had achieved tenure, he was also looking for a house with Penny, Really, this was just too much, Leonard had no consideration at all, besides his insulting attitude at previously walking all over the room mate agreement he should have turned down the tenure and recommended Sheldon for the post. ( _Sheldon ignored the fact that they preferred married candidates due to the eccentricity of the previous single ones, and instead put down their selection of Leonard being due solely to Penny wearing her little black dress_ ). Amy had suggested that if Sheldon married her, then they will surely select him instead of Leonard, but to her immense disappointment, he immediately pooh-poohed the idea. But Sheldon did need a constant in his life and finally agreed to Amy moving in to 4a which cheered her immensely after the marriage suggestion proved so disappointing.

All the gang were in 4a when Leonard & Penny arrived, Amy and Bernadette shrieked their excitement at seeing Penny looking radiant with her pregnancy and all were stunned at the tanned and fit appearance of Leonard, looking much healthier as a result and all thereafter were busy catching up on Penny's news at how her honeymoon went, ( _except Sheldon who maintained a sulky silence throughout_ ), in fact Bernadette and Howard were so interested in Penny's description of Lake McConaughey that they looked into arranging a visit for themselves for a couple of weeks or so.

After a couple of hours the tired couple left for 4b had a coffee(Leonard) and a mineral water (Penny) then went to bed. It had been decided that Penny would look round houses then when she found one that would fit their criteria, then they would both view it again.

Meanwhile Leonard, now back at Cal tech was assigned an assistant to help him with the clerical side of things, though Penny was at first not at all pleased at the fact that his assistant was an attractive woman in her mid twenties, till Leonard explained that he was about to turn her down , being worried at the effect it would have on Penny, when Sarah commented on the photo on his desk of Penny and himself together. Then Sarah showed Leonard a picture of her partner, an attractive woman that Sarah had been in a close relationship with for four years.

Later that morning Penny went to view her first house but found the Agent's description differed from the actual house itself, which looked like college students had been running riot in it for quite some time. Penny thanked the Agent after declaring that it was not what they were looking for ( _not in a month of Sunday's_ ) then she made her way to Cal-Tech to meet Leonard for a coffee .

She entered the canteen and saw Leonard seated at a table Their faces lit up as they saw each other, and she sat down while Leonard got the coffees and a pasta salad for each of them.

"So how did you find the house?, was it OK I mean", Leonard asked.

"No, I'm afraid it was a wreck honey", Penny replied, unable to keep the disappointment off her face. "So tell me how is the tenure going?" ,Penny asked him.

"Well it was mainly awarded to me for my extensive work with lasers and also because I worked on the North sea trip with Hawking therefore I attract a lot of funding for the university", Leonard informed her.

"Was Hawking pissed with you for not going on his next one though?", Penny asked, feeling a little guilty at not letting him go.

"No not at all when I explained, he was very understanding, Oh! Also he offered congratulations on our marriage by the way" Leonard said.

"That was nice of him, you'll have to tell him about the baby too", Penny answered.

"Good idea, I have to talk to him tomorrow anyway, as he wants me to go over the data here that they have collected in the North sea so far". The conversation continued more on domestic lines after that then Penny left for her appointment.

Upon arriving at the Psychiatrist's office she reported to reception and gave her name and asked to see Dr Griffiths ,as he was recommended to her by Dr Goldman of North Platte, Nebraska.

"I'm sorry I'm afraid Dr Griffiths is unavailable due to illness and it is not known when he will be able to return, you can see his stand in Dr Schuster instead if you wish?, The receptionist told her.

"OK, I'll see him then", Penny told her, then was directed to the waiting area where she sat until being called.

There were some people that one liked on first sight, (Leonard), and some people one took an instant dislike to and Dr Schuster came in that category, as soon as he entered his office, his piggy eyes were immediately on her rack and he seemed to not take much notice at what she was saying at all, and worse still seemed to view her as just a neurotic female.

So at the end of his session, Penny walked straight out without booking another appointment and miserably feeling not helped at all.

Leonard, on being informed about her ordeal at the psychiatrist's office worried intensely, Penny really needed these sessions if she was to recover at all, but Penny now was determined not to attend anymore sessions, but he did not know what what on earth he could do to encourage her to continue.

The next day at Cal-Tech he found it difficult to concentrate on his work, with his worry over Penny constantly on his mind, a fact not unnoticed by Sarah his assistant who asked him if he was OK.

Leonard hoping for a solution told Sarah about Penny's experience at the psychiatrist's office upon which Sarah's righteous indignation at the Doctor's unprofessional Manner and Leonard's distress ( _She had come to like Leonard, As he had always treated her with the utmost respect_ ) and suggested to Leonard that Penny might like to see her girlfriend who had not long qualified as a psychiatrist.

Leonard could not believe his luck and thanked Sarah as she gave him her partners office contact details.

It took Leonard quite an effort to convince Penny to see her and after an "OK ,but if she ogles my rack too then I am finished with Doctors", she vehemently replied.

"What!, me as well?", Leonard declared feigning shock.

"No I didn't mean you honey, just Psychiatric Doctors", she clarified.

Penny's fears were unrealized Dr Julie Jeffers was totally professional and really listened intently to Penny, empathizing with her over her ordeal at her breakdown.

"So tell me, what's Leonard like?, does he treat you well?", Julie questioned.

Penny's face lit up the room as she started to talk about Leonard, so Julie satisfied alone at the adoration on Penny's face stopped her from saying any more, as she jokingly put it, or we could be here all night.

Penny left Julie's office feeling much refreshed and on top of the world after her session, then met up with Leonard again at Cal-tech to tell him how it went, and as usual, as she walked into the canteen her face lighting up at seeing her Leonard, then she kissed him, all the males in the canteen then envying Leonard's luck at being wed to such a beautiful girl. The she sat while Leonard went to get some food and drinks.

As she waited, Sarah came over and introduced herself and Penny thanked her profusely for putting her onto Dr Jeffers, Sarah beamed as Penny told her, without going into too many details how much better one session had made her feel.

Sarah then said "I may have another suggestion that may help you as my grandmother is no longer able to live on her own, and now she has to go into residential care and will have to sell her house, it has three bedrooms and a large garden to the rear and it is not far from here". Penny could not believe how well this day was going and wrote down the address hoping to see it this afternoon. Leonard had by now returned with the drinks and thanked Sarah for thinking of them. Then Sarah suggested that they both go to see it at four o'clock and that she would ring her grandmother to inform her of their visit to see the house, " actually", Sarah confessed "my grandmother has been worrying herself silly over dealing with Realtors and stuff so if she could avoid it, that would be better for her".

At four o'clock Penny and Leonard found themselves in front of an attractive house with a manicured front lawn, and a double garage with quarters above. At the same moment they looked at each other and smiled at their mutual excitement at immediately liking what they saw of the outside.

At the ring of the doorbell, the elderly lady came to the door and saw them and was immensely pleased at the sight of such a lovely couple on her doorstep, in fact she had seen them arrive from her window and they reminded her of the day her husband and herself came to look at the house nearly sixty years ago and she decided there and then that she liked this young couple and wanted them to experience all the happy times living here as her late Frank and herself had done.

Penny upon concluding the tour fell in love with the place, there was a basement, utility room, study, the main bedroom with en-suite and dressing room, a family bathroom, lounge and large kitchen it was perfect but the price could be well more than they could afford. Leonard discussed the financial matters with the seller, finally she agreed on $500,000 dollars if they paid her granddaughter the rest over a period of time that would be acceptable.

Leonard and Penny were ecstatic, "Leonard" Penny wept, "we've bought a house", "I know, I can't believe it" Leonard answered, excitedly hugging and kissing her.


	14. Chapter 14

****Chapter 14****

 ** **Moving Experiences****

After Leonard had completed all the legalities of the house and put in place the direct debit payment agreement to Sarah Jeffers, his assistant, to pass onto her grandmother, they began to start moving their things in.

Penny was over the moon at their first house together and immediately began stripping wallpaper off in the lounge, in fact so obsessed was she that she missed their lunch date and this got Leonard into quite a state with worry, until he rang her and found she was still at the new house.

So Leonard drove over there and stopped to pick up some pizzas, coffee and mineral water on the way.

On entering the lounge he was stunned to find that Penny had single handedly stripped all the wallpaper off and was now rubbing down the woodwork to the accompaniment of Beyonce from her Ipod dock.

"Honey, look I really don't want to be a buzz-kill but be careful you don't overdo it, please honey", Leonard pleaded "I can always hire a couple of decorators to do it all".

"Don't you dare this is our first house together and I want it decorated how I like it", she said stamping her foot in agitation at him.

"OK honey but please be careful, Look have a rest a spell and eat some pizza", he cajoled.

Penny relented feeling her empty stomach starting to growl and began to wolf down the tuna and sweetcorn pizza he had got her, clearly eager to continue with her decorating, and after eating that, four slices of garlic bread and half of Leonard's pizza too, she drank some water and began to continue with her work.

They managed at first with the few sticks of furniture, mainly from Penny's apartment, and also the dining table and chairs that they ha bought for 4a much to Sheldon,s disapproval. After which Penny decided it would be far better if they accrue more furniture gradually, rather than diminish their savings on splashing out for everything at once.

By the Friday evening Leonard had to be a little forceful with his wife to get her to stop work, as by now Penny had stripped the wallpaper from the lounge and two of the bedrooms and sanded the woodwork in the lounge and the master bedroom and was halfway through stripping the wallpaper from the dressing room at nearly 8:00 pm.

As they drove away from the house to take her out for a well earned meal and a rest, he was stunned to see that Penny was in tears. So he reversed back onto their drive and asked her what was wrong .

"I can't help with paying for our house so I thought that if I get the decorating done I will have contributed at least something to it", she sobbed.

"Honey, I love that you have such a good heart and that this is such a concern for you, but you must be careful not to overdo it or it could harm our baby, let me sort something out, you can still supervise and select all the colours, wallpaper and furnishings which is still contributing to our house". Leonard reasoned.

Penny finally had to see the sense in that, for she certainly did not wish to harm her baby so she decided to just enjoy her meal and relax for the rest of the evening, especially as Leonard had pinky promised he would work on the house all over the weekend.

It was late on Saturday afternoon when Leonard was just applying the undercoat in the lounge, and Penny was stripping wallpaper off the wall in the third bedroom, when a large box van drew up and reversed in front of the garage, Penny noticing it from out the window went down to investigate, and as she stepped out the front door, out of the van climbed Marcia and Wyatt.

"Mom, Dad, what a lovely surprise, what are you doing here?, Penny squealed in her excitement to see her Parents.

Wyatt explained "Well Penny I offered Leonard $100,000 towards buying a house, but good man that you've got there, He refused, he told me it was his dream to take care of you his wife ( at that, Penny immediately began to tear up) , but reckon I still wanted to help , and if you and Leonard don't mind then", And with that he opened up the back of the van.

Inside the van were washing machine, drier, large refrigerator, chest freezer, and dishwasher and also a handmade walnut double bed.

"The bed was made by old Claude Harrison he owns a small place next to ours, And he's been a family friend of ours for years and it's his present to you both", Marcia explained.

Penny overcome by delight cried and as she made coffee for them all Wyatt and Leonard acquiescing to Wyatt's generous nature loaded them into the garage except for the bed which went upstairs into the master bedroom to be later very carefully covered up by Penny.

Penny proudly took them on a tour of her house and garden, talking nineteen to the dozen all the time. Wyatt and Leonard quickly made some beds up in the two bedrooms and the two men left to 4b to bring the rest of the things and Leonard's stuff still remaining in 4a to the house, Leonard for some obscure reason now could not help but feel a little sad at the sight of the emptiness that was now all there was in 4b and the happy memories of his first meeting with Penny, to all the ups and downs as their relationship twisted and turned, before their eventual union . Then they returned to the house. Penny had ordered takeout for them all and after they ate they retired to their beds.

Wyatt lay for a while staring up at the ceiling thanking the powers that be that Penny had ended up in a fine house and not one with wheels, he had never seen her so happy as he had this last month or so.

The next morning they unloaded the van into the garage till Penny could sort things out and Leonard and Wyatt painted the lounge, while Penny and Marcia looked at Paint, Wallpaper and furnishings on her laptop. On Monday, Penny and Marcia left to pick up the wallpaper for the lounge and the paint for the master bedroom. By the end of the day the lounge was finished, except for the floor covering in which Penny was still undecided on.

Sheldon acutely felt the emptiness now that Leonard had collected the last of his things from 4a, it was now clear to Sheldon that things no longer were the same, and Sheldon found things had changed in a big way now and he just couldn't cope with it at all.

Amy tried her best to help him but to no avail. She decided she would have to speak to Leonard and Penny to find a solution before Sheldon took off again on his travels to try and make sense of things, and this time, there would be no telling where he would go.

Tuesday morning and Leonard had a brainwave if he got male decorators and they hit on Penny making her uncomfortable, it might set her back in her healing process but if he could get female ones it might be better, So when the opportunity arose he asked Sarah if she knew any.

Sarah didn't personally know of any but would ring round her friends and see if they could help.

Leonard thanked her and began to look at his itinerary for the day .

Penny was meanwhile looking on her laptop for ideas on floor coverings for the lounge and then decided on laminate flooring with a large center rug in the middle, while Marcia and Wyatt were painting the walls in the master bedroom and before long two rooms had been decorated and Penny began to turn her attention to the carpet for the main bedroom when her phone rang with Leonard's ring-tone (T _he theme from Star Trek of course_ ) "Hi Honey, Mom and Dad have finished painting our bedroom and I was just going to look for carpet designs on the net, what's that, you've found some decorators, are they, great we could all have girl talk while we work, thank Sarah for me will you, OK, I love you too Honey, see you tonight". Then ending the call she turned back to carpets, and before the day was at an end she had ordered the carpet and arranged it to be fitted the next day. Wyatt and Marcia left for Nebraska on the Wednesday morning, Then the first thing Friday morning her decorators arrived and introduced themselves to her as Kelly and Sandra, they explained that most of their work was done for elderly ladies living on their own and then Kelly showed Penny some photographs of their previous work on Kelly's laptop and also some references from satisfied customers, Penny was satisfied with their references and impressed by the high standard shown by the girls. So the two girls started work and by the end of the day the dressing room was finished and the two bedrooms ready for painting the walls, Penny then asked them if they knew anyone who laid laminate flooring, and Sandra said her boyfriend was a carpenter and he could do it, Penny was startled, "I thought you were both..., Never mind", Penny said quickly, avoiding putting her foot in it. She discovered later that Kelly was getting married next year and Sandra too, was getting engaged soon. Sandra told Penny to choose the laminate she wanted and Sandra told her boyfriend the size of the room, then he informed Sandra how many packs she would need and underlay, adhesive, and skirting as it was so much better than those horrible cover strips that went round the edge.

So Penny ordered everything and also the center rug and arranged for Sandra's boyfriend to fit it next Wednesday.

Later that Evening, Penny told Leonard that the girls weren't gay and Leonard explained that Sarah had got them from the phone book., and he'd just assumed that they were gay, as Sarah had told him that she would ask her friends if they knew any. Penny slapped him on the arm, "I was this close to losing our decorators Hofstadter , they Might not have taken it at all well if I revealed I thought they were lesbians", she explained.

Leonard examined the work the girls had done and like Penny, he was very impressed with the standard of their work.

That night they tried their new bed out, "Well there's no chance of us breaking this one Leonard", Penny laughed as they snuggled down together.  
And so by the time of Penny's first trimester the house had been decorated throughout (except for the nursery as the walls had only been painted a neutral colour) and also new kitchen, bathroom and en suite .

Penny was excited as today would be her first scan and already she was going through the usual symptoms, Throwing up, frequent visits to the toilet etc. and most strangest of all, she just could not get enough of Leonard's natural aroma (not the horrible B.O. Odour), often Leonard would come home and Penny would be holding his T-shirt to her nose'.

and now here she was sitting there with Leonard waiting to be called in.

Soon the call of Mrs Penny Hofstadter was announced and Penny and Leonard entered the scanning room.

Penny was told to lay on the couch and raise her dress exposing her abdomen and the midwife spread some gel over Penny's stomach and placing the instrument on Penny, she began to search for the foetus, "Hmmm, good strong heartbeat Mrs Hofstadter I'll just turn the screen so you can see better, right, here's an arm and there's the head and the legs are here she said, and all looking very good indeed, I'll just get you a video of it".

Penny left the clinic walking on cloud nine, She had also been given a photograph of which she was now looking at with wonder, "Leonard", She whispered in awe, "It's our Baby, the product of our love".

Leonard could not find words to answer her, he was just thunderstruck by this beautiful image of a miracle.

Leonard dropped Penny off and then made his way to Cal-Tech.

Penny went into the kitchen and took a bottle of water from the fridge and sat in the lounge and was idly watching one of those makeover shows on T.V. When her doorbell rang.

Upon opening it there stood her middle aged neighbour from next door , "Hi I'm sorry to bother you, but I seem to have locked myself out, My Husband is on his way but he will be a couple of hours yet, well I'm sure you know yourself what the rush hour traffic is like in L.A. And I wondered if I could I please wait here as it has started to rain", she explained.

"Why yes of course, do come in, would you like some coffee?", Penny offered.

"Yes please, sorry let me introduce myself I'm Helen Gibbs how do you do ", she said.

"You're that famous interior designer from T.V.", Exclaimed Penny, not admitting to the fact that she didn't know who she was till this afternoon on T.V.

"What a lovely house, who's your designer?", Helen asked impressed.

"Oh no, I did it all myself, and a couple of excellent girl decorators and my parents and I did the decorating", Penny explained.

Helen looked Thoughtful, "Well Penny I must say you have quite a talent there", she said after Penny had given her the grand tour.

"They then chatted about inconsequentials and after a while Helen's Husband called and then they left.

That evening Amy called round about Sheldon and after much discussion they decided that Wednesday and Friday evenings they would all meet at 4a, though as Leonard pointed out ,with Raj and Emily now engaged, and even Stuart was getting serious with Howard's Cousin Jeannie things are bound to change, Amy acknowledged his point and said it was just to buy time until Sheldon can adjust to a new homeostasis.

So the next Friday evening the whole gang met in 4a for take out and the talk was full of Penny and Leonard's house, Penny's pregnancy, and Raj's engagement to Emily, had they set a date?, will the wedding be in India or here in the USA?, And Stuart, how was it going with Jeannie, are they thinking of getting engaged soon?

And so the conversation continued on similar lines, Sheldon finally realised that things could never be the same again, He needed constancy and order in his life and decided it was time to put his plan into operation tomorrow evening.

And Late that Saturday Evening the phone rang and Penny shrieked in delight, startling Leonard who was dozing in front of the T,V, "Sheldon's finally proposed to Amy", Penny squealed wide-eyed at Leonard, Leonard was suddenly wide awake, "I don't believe it", He said, "I know it's so cool", Penny replied excitedly.

Earlier they had been discussing names for the Baby, and after The fashion of the Beckham's Leonard had jokingly thought of Lake, Jacuzzi, Long Grass and even Running Deer.  
Penny got a little annoyed with him and told him to be serious.  
Leonard apologized to her but said that Long Grass and Running Deer sounded cool like Native American names", but at the meaningful stare from Penny he quickly dropped the subject.  
Soon Penny had decided on Honey Marie for a girl and Wyatt for a boy, as the baby was conceived on their honeymoon Penny did go a little Beckham though, with the name Honey.

On the Tuesday and Penny was at the age old task of ironing one of Leonard's shirts when the doorbell rang . Helen, her neighbour, was back to ask Penny if Helen could feature Penny's home on the makeover show, as Penny had such a fresh approach to interior design and she thought it might appeal to younger couples very much like Penny and her husband and as Penny had been an actress perhaps they could get some scenes of Penny describing at how she arrived at her ideas for the décor in some of the rooms. And an excited Penny immediately agreed especially at seeing the figure they were willing to pay her.

Excitedly she rang Leonard, "Honey, Helen's going to feature our house on T.V. And they want me to be in some of the scenes",

"That's so cool honey, I'm not surprised, the house looks great, and you did wonders with the décor and didn't Helen herself say you had talent. I'm so excited for you". He told her enthusiastically.

On the day before the shoot, Penny was like a madwoman cleaning here and tidying there and the next morning she insisted Leonard had his breakfast at Cal-Tech in case he made a mess in the kitchen. ( _Penny, with their first new house had swung round from slob to house proud, due I think to her self esteem being much higher than when she was single and working as a waitress. at the Cheese Cake Factory._ )

Helen introduced Penny to the viewers in front of their house and as Penny had done so well in rehearsals, Penny did the entire view on her own describing why she chose this and how much this went with that etc.

on the day the programme went out the entire gang were in Penny's lounge to watch.

"Penny you did brilliantly, I'm so proud of you", Leonard told her kissing her cheek, "Yeah she's a real star Dude", Raj added "And did you notice honey our baby was on T.V. Too" Penny told Leonard, patting her bump.

"yeah it should have been called the Penny & Junior show", Leonard joked.

The Next day Penny had her final session with Dr Julie Jeffers and she afterwards took Julie out for a meal in thanks for helping her so much, as they parted afterwards Julie wished her all the happiness in the world, and Penny replied to her, _"I already have it"._

On her return home, She found Helen waiting for her "where have you been?" the phones have been ringing non stop, we have people ringing wanting you to do their houses and other people wanting you to doing the programme full time", Then seeing the nervous look on Penny's face at mentioning the latter, Helen added, "It would suit me fine if you would front the programme as I am really too busy with clients" and she added conspiratorially, I've just picked up a contract from Jennifer Lopez to do her house.

Penny excitedly agreed to front the programme and as she told Leonard later, "The funniest thing about it was, I wasn't acting at all, I was just being myself and the audience loved it", "Well it doesn't surprise me in the slightest honey, I have been very much in love with you for over eight years", Leonard told her, Penny threw her arms round him and kissed him before dragging him off to their bedroom.

On the Saturday Penny threw a dinner party for the whole gang to celebrate both Penny's T.V. programme and Amy & Sheldon's engagement, and Bernadette & Emily helped Penny so the work would not be too much for her, in fact Bernadette wanted this baby almost as much as Penny. ( _it was a little late for the engagement party as it had been difficult to get them all together)._

Sheldon then asked Leonard if he could have a private word with him and the two men retired to the study.

"Leonard, I thank you for being my friend and also for showing me through your friendship then marriage to Penny, that I can't keep everything the same, as we well know the elements are in constant motion and changes occur in the universe all the time and I had to realize that I needed to too. I love Amy and am happy at the thought of marrying her, she will provide the constancy I need, helping me to cope with change. Also congratulations on your tenure, and I apologize, as I now realize, Thanks to Amy, that it was achieved due to your hard work and dedication. Thanks Leonard", Sheldon said, in all sincerity. Leonard smiled "We have a lot to thank Amy for ", Leonard told him and gave him a brief hug.

At 20 weeks pregnant Penny & Leonard were excitedly going for another scan to determine the sex of their baby, once again Penny shivered as the midwife spread the cold gel on Penny's middle and then she moved the scanner over Penny's abdomen, The couple waited with baited breath as the midwife worked, "It's the right size for 20 weeks and a good strong heartbeat" She said, then "keep still little one I can't see", before, "You have a little girl", she announced.

Penny at once gasped and began to cry "It's Honey Marie, Leonard, she's so beautiful", but Leonard was lost for words as he was sat there stunned and wiping his eyes.

As soon as she was home Penny was immediately looking on her laptop for wallpaper patterns and paint on decorating the nursery for a Baby girl

Helen set Penny up with a couple of interior design contracts and She had even hired Kelly and Sandra on a permanent basis to work under Penny, Leonard had set Penny up with a desktop computer with three screens, and software to aid her in her work, and Penny had also enrolled herself on a course in interior design at a local college and by her second trimester had five contracts under her belt. Penny would meet and discuss with the client and Kelly or Sandra would measure the rooms and paint sample colours on walls, and Penny would go through fabric and paper samples and work on her computer to design and print out an artists impression on the finished room.

And before long with the T.V. And designing, Penny had paid the rest of the money owing on the house to her great satisfaction, Now she had contributed much towards the house and proved herself an able partner to Leonard, at which Penny had been so concerned about after her marriage to Leonard.

Penny, now at 8 months pregnant was sweltering in her dress and it seemed that fanning herself with the hymn Sheet was making no difference, "Trust Sheldon to have his wedding on the hottest day of the year, I swear he did it on purpose just to teach me a lesson for taking Leonard away from him?", she thought. She looked round at her friends, Raj and Emily were now engaged as were Stuart and Jeannie, Jeannie had been a godsend for Stuart as with her excellent business acumen, she had really turned the comic book store around and at last it was regularly showing a profit. Bernadette and Howard were also expecting their first child, with Bernadette at 6 weeks gone.

As they all were friends of both the Bride and bridegroom it was decided that the girls would sit on the brides side and the boys on Sheldon's side, Leonard, as best man was standing with Sheldon waiting for Amy's entrance, Penny looked at her husband looking very smart and hunky in his suit and felt her excitement beginning to build, "Crazy, I'm 8 months gone and I still wanna jump him, but wow, he just so excites me though", she thought.

Sheldon although not religious decided to get married in a church in order that his mother Mary and other God fearing relatives would attend his wedding. At hearing from Leonard that the cabin at Lake McConaughy had WiFi, Amy and Sheldon decided to honeymoon there too, Sheldon puzzled at Leonard's warning to beware of the long grass?, but at the thought of going on the boat, he was really looking forward to wearing his sailors hat.

Finally the music announced that the bride had arrived and all as one turned to see her walk down the aisle. Penny gasped, Amy looked absolutely stunning in her dress and tiara her make-up perfectly applied by Emily, who had earlier told Penny that she had learned by tidying up corpses after accidents, Penny was almost sure she was joking.

Sheldon's face was a picture as he looked at Amy, his face was the look of love. (no _not his koala face though_ ) .

They both said their vows clearly though Sheldon was forbidden by Amy to say his in Klingon.

And Then Dr and Dr Cooper left the church for their reception. It was going rather well till Jeannie had to rush to the ladies to be violently ill, Howard then chastised Stuart for letting his Cousin drink so much, at which Stuart indignantly informed Howard that Jeannie had only had a couple of Martinis besides the champagne, whereupon Howard smiled, shook Stuarts hand and said congratulations at which Stuart suddenly realizing the reason for Jeannie's predicament, promptly fainted.

By now Penny was feeling very tired and her ankles had swollen so, therefore Leonard made for home as soon as Amy and Sheldon had left for the honeymoon.

Upon their getting into bed Penny seemed to recover a bit and though difficult they enjoyed their little exercise before Penny adopted her usual position happily spooned in front of Leonard, the fingers of one hand intertwined with his.


	15. Chapter 15

****Chapter 15****

 ** **Labour****

Penny now nearly nine months gone and in a very irritable mood _(mainly due to her worrying if she is still attractive to Leonard and feeling more and more insecure the more slim pretty girls they would see while out together),_

 _My God! Has every blonde, buxom California girl chosen to shop in this damn supermarket today or what?", Penny testily thought to herself as with each girl she spied the more she thought herself to be fat, sweaty and downright unattractive. Her hair too seemed determined not to cooperate with shampoo, brush or comb and finally in exasperation Penny had tied it into a very messy bun. and also as she had become totally fed up to the back teeth with being confined to the house, and although Marcia her Mom, who had come down beforehand with Wyatt to be present after the birth to help Penny for a little while, had offered to go, she had decided to go to the supermarket with Leonard for a change of scenery._

 _She was also depressed at being unable for a few weeks now to do yoga, which she absolutely loved and just when she had finally convinced Leonard to join her in the exercise, she had had to stop._

 _She had convinced Leonard that he needed to share her interests, though really it was after reading about the statistics of the increasing amount of men having heart attacks in early middle age, which forced Penny to think about the possibility of losing her Leonard in this way and how on earth she would cope without him. Which had the result of making Penny panic so much that she began to hyperventilate. Though financially she would be quite OK, but living life without Leonard was totally unacceptable for her and after that Leonard found himself not only doing yoga but also finding himself eating a lot healthily too whenever Penny cooked for him._

Waddling round the aisles with Leonard, She was beginning to regret coming "I feel so big, fat and awkward", she wailed to herself, and to put the cherry on the cake, she also had terrible backache today. Fortunately the make over program, she fronted, had finished that series and Penny was on hiatus for a couple of months or more.  
"Do you need any more mineral water honey", Leonard asked interrupting her train of thought, "Yeah put a pack of them in will you".

The program had been going well, Penny was young, pregnant and totally identifiable with her audience of mainly young wives, and with that and her interior design business her income had shot up.

Indeed she was very much in demand by younger celebs such as Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Bynes, Kaley Cuoco. And to her enormous joy Jennifer Aniston too.

So that Dr & Mrs Hofstadter were now much more financially secure, also they had decided that as they loved their house so much, then as their family expanded, they would look to building an extension as they had plenty of ground to the back of the house, rather than buy another.

"Do we need any eggs", asked Leonard, again interrupting her thought, Penny snorted irritably, "Didn't I tell you as we walked in we needed eggs", she told him testily, "Sorry Honey, I forgot", he apologized picking up a dozen eggs.

Leonard did love Penny very much but in this last stage of her pregnancy she was proving difficult to get on with, though Leonard was very careful not to upset her, being sympathetic to her condition and after all, he did love her very much indeed.  
Penny, feeling quite overheated, had retraced her steps back to the frozen food aisle hoping to cool down, then seeing her friends Ben & Jerry picked up several tubs and carried them back to the trolley, and picking up some anchovies, ( _to eat with the ice cream_ ), on the way then seeing that Leonard had moved on making Penny waddle faster to catch up with him to her embarrassment.

Finally, after catching Leonard up and giving him a lecture on the need for showing consideration for one's heavily pregnant wife to Leonard's embarrassment. they placed the last item in the trolley and started to make their way to the checkout.

Suddenly Penny felt very wet down below "Leonard!, My waters have broke", she shrieked at him in panic, Next Penny found herself being carried into the managers office attended on her by a Midwife and a Nurse, who had fortunately been in the supermarket too, and the Midwife, who had been summoned by means of the PA in the mall.

I've called for an ambulance, the Manager had announced to the Midwife only to be told that Penny was now fully dilated and little Honey Marie was determined on making her entrance now.

"Great, Mom warned me this might happen, now I will get 'I told you so', every single day for weeks on end now", Penny muttered to Leonard.

Though Penny was puzzled, as everyone had told her that the first baby one had, the labor lasted several hours, in fact many seemed to take great delight in telling her horror stories of 12 hours in labour, and other difficulties associated with a long labour.

Then just as a girl brought a new pack of towels the next thing Penny knew she was pushing and squeezing Leonard's hand, noting with great satisfaction the pain on his face, and within 15 minutes little Honey Marie had arrived. Later after Mother and Baby had been transported to the post natal ward, and to Leonard's great relief, both of them had been declared fit and well, Leonard rang Marcia and Wyatt.

Leonard now relaxed after all the worry over the ordeal endured by his wife, wept with tears of joy at the perfection that was his daughter, "Honey, She's so Beautiful, She's just so perfect, he sobbed to Penny who was also in tears as she took Honey Marie from him for her first feed, She was in absolute ecstasy and too choked up for words at watching her daughter latch on and begin feeding from her breast.

Soon Penny's room became filled with balloons, stuffed toys, cards and baby clothes and the obligatory large box of chocolates and huge bunch of flowers from Leonard, and gifts from all the gang and Penny's Parents.

But the press quickly got hold of the story and it went all over the United states and even announced on T.V., under titles like "Fresh Today" and "One Only Offer", Penny had shot from Statewide fame to Countrywide soon the makeover series was being broadcast in over 35 states with more signing up each day.

Penny though surprisingly was not pleased at this, although fame had been her motivating factor since she was 12, But she certainly did not want her very precious little family to be everybody's public spectacle, and she quickly hired a lawyer to try and curb some of the press excesses, But he advised her that as long as she didn't give birth to a baby in a supermarket every week the story will fade naturally over time

Once she was Home all the gang had a quiet little party in honor of Honey Marie, Bernadette was quite enchanted with her and when looking at Honey Marie she would tenderly pat her own stomach with a huge smile on her face and Howard watching her was forced to wipe a tear or two. and Jeannie too, was holding her own stomach in a similar manner and Stuart still looking as if he was going to faint,

Penny's percentage in the show, she had negotiated beforehand brought her in a considerable amount of money. much to the delight of her Agent whom she had rehired.

Two months later Penny purchased a little car for herself to replace the one that was returned to the pharmaceutical company.

And wanting to buy Leonard something really special, she asked him what he wanted most, his reply made Penny choke with emotion, "The most precious thing you can give me honey is your love always, that's all I ever wanted", she then dragged him up to bed while Honey slept in her crib.

But a solution to Leonard's present came about from a conversation she had with her Sister Jan over the phone.

Pete and Janey had decided to retire from the diner and as they had no children, Penny's sister Jan and her husband would run the diner.

Penny had then rung Pete asking if she could buy the cabin Leonard and herself had Honeymooned in,

Pete agreed and Leonard was now the proud owner of Lake-house, as they called it later.

And a week later the three flew up to Nebraska and entering the cabin Leonard asked her where her surprise present was?, when Penny told him "you're standing in it, Honey", Leonard moved towards her and putting his arms round her and with tears in his eyes he hugged her then told her that this present had given him some of the most happiest memories in his life" then as soon as Honey Marie fell asleep, they returned to the Jacuzzi

 **First anniversary**

 ** **Home****

Penny looked at the full laundry basket and turned to little Honey Marie, gurgling in her crib,

"Well sweetie you are definitely all woman, you've got more clothes in here than I have", She said smiling at her daughter, then turning to the pile she began sorting it for ironing, when suddenly her phone rang, "Hello Mrs Penny Hofstadter here",( _She still loved saying that_ ) "hello Mrs Hofstadter this is the dental clinic reminding you for your 10:45 appointment for Monday morning", "OK thanks, glad you rang, I'd forgotten, thank you again bye".

Then speaking to her Daughter, "I'd better write that on the calender, hadn't I".

"Holy crap on a cracker!", she said looking at the calender, "It's our first anniversary tomorrow", then turning again to her Daughter. She said,"c'mon Honey Marie, we've got to rush out and get a card and a present and It's nearly half past three as it is", and Penny picked up her Daughter and went to change and dress her.

 ** **To The Train Store****

Leonard meanwhile had agreed to take Sheldon to the model train store, ( _though as usual Leonard had only agreed in order to shut Sheldon up as he would have not heard the end of it)_.

Just then Sheldon's phone rang, "Hello", "Sheldon don't tell Leonard it's me calling", Penny Pleaded desperately "listen can you stall Leonard for a while?, it's our anniversary tomorrow and I forgot to get Leonard a card and a present", she explained.

Sheldon for once was speechless, as he meditated on her request "Alright Fred Bloggs I think I can do that", "Thanks Sheldon I owe you one", and Penny rang off.

"That was Fred Bloggs", Sheldon informed Leonard.

"Who's Fred Bloggs?", Leonard asked him, thinking of names at Cal-Tec.

"He's the new Guy at Big Boy", Sheldon replied.

"You haven't been to Big Boy since we started going to the Cheesecake Factory?", Puzzled Leonard

"I met him in the street outside, really Leonard I object to all this questioning, why can't you take me at my word", Sheldon testily replied looking rather shiftily at Leonard.

"Sorry Sheldon I didn't mean to jerk your chain", Leonard mollified him while rolling his eyes, "I don't know why you didn't go yesterday anyway, we drove right past here yesterday?".

"Really Leonard, I told you last week that I needed to go to the train store on the 22nd, If I had wanted to go on the 21st I would have said the 21st , wouldn't I?".

"Yeah, OK Sheldon, don't get your knickers in a twist", Leonard said borrowing a favourite Phrase of that English Doctor who was currently on an exchange with Cambridge University, Doctor Stephen Jones.

"Whaaat?, wait a minute, did you say it's the 22nd?", "Heck I've got to get Penny a card and a present, It's our first anniversary tomorrow", Leonard now in a panic, informed Sheldon.

"I know", Sheldon replied then to allay any suspicion from Leonard, said,"I have an Eidetic memory you know".

 ** **To the Mall****

Penny opened the front door, stepped outside and then stepped back inside as Honey Marie posseting nearly half of her earlier feed down the front of Penny's top so Penny had to go and change her top .

Finally arriving at the mall, Penny rushed through the crowds, like a madwoman and pushing the stroller in front of her as if it was a battering ram, and headed straight for the greetings card shop. And began looking through the anniversary cards for husbands.

Penny searched through their whole selection but was unable to find one that even came close to the words she wanted to say to Leonard.

Finally in desperation Penny rang Bernadette.

"Hi Bernadette, I need an anniversary card for Leonard, do you know any other card shops I can try?, I'm at the one in the mall but I couldn't find a single one with the words I wanted it to say?"

"Hi Penny, I don't think you'll find any that's much different from the ones you've just gone through?", "tell you what why don't you come over and we can make one then you can write your own words and we'll print it off, if you can buy some envelopes about 10" by 5" we can then trim the card to fit, OK?", Bernadette suggested.

"Thanks Bernadette, you're a life saver", Penny told her with some relief, then after purchasing some purple envelopes and a present for Leonard, she made her way over to Bernadette's.

 ** **At The Train Store****

"Sheldon!, come on, will you buy something?, we've been in here over an hour", Leonard said, rapidly losing patience.

"Oh but Leonard, I can't decide between this wonderful English 00 scale model of the 4-6-2 LNER A4 Locomotive, Mallard,

do you know it still holds the world record for the fastest steam locomotive at 125 MPH, or this wonderful N gauge model of the Canadian Pacific, Which one do you think?", Sheldon asked him.

"Just get the blue one then, Sheldon" Leonard answered, beginning to climb the walls in frustration.

" choose between The blue one?, Really Leonard, would you choose between the XBOX or the Playstation for the colour of it, what about the...", "I don't care Sheldon just buy one will you", Leonard replied cutting Sheldon off in mid flow, "I've still got to get Penny a present and a card yet", he said testily.

 ** **At Bernadette's****

"Thanks for this, I never thought of making one of my own", Penny said as Bernadette opened her door.

"No problem Penny I have the software all fired up and ready, Let's make a special card for Leonard", while Honey Marie sat in her baby chair and was amused by Bernadette while Penny worked, Penny began by selecting the font and then adding a picture of the two of them standing in front of the barn on their wedding day, then added a decorative pattern around it, she then turned her attention to the inside and specifically the words she wanted to use.

"So Penny, you've been married a whole year now, how does it feel?", Bernadette asked her while she tickled Honey Marie.

"I can't believe it, I still feel like Wow, it is so wonderful to be a wife and mother, really I can't believe I was so terrified to commit myself to Leonard, now I feel it's the best thing I have ever done, Life is just so great now", Penny replied , her eyes twinkling and with a look of wonder on her face.

"That's good to hear I'm so glad for you", Bernadette commended looking at Honey Marie.

They printed out the card and trimmed it then Penny wrote a small message and signed it with several 'xxxxxxx' at the end then she slipped it into a purple envelope, she had bought earlier.

"Thanks again Bernadette you've saved my bacon" Penny thanked her as she left, then noticed the look of longing on Bernadette's face as she said goodbye to Honey Marie.

"Hmm I think your Auntie Bernadette might quite like to have a little girl herself, by the looks of it sweetie", Penny said to her Daughter, once they were back in the car.

 **At The Train Store**

Sheldon at last purchased Mallard to Leonard's Immense relief then to Leonard's Horror he then decided to look at the LNER Teak carriages that were usually coupled up to it.

"Sheldon I must nip out and get Penny a card. I'll pop back here once I've got it OK".

"Oh yeah", replied Sheldon as usual not listening at all, as he was entranced by the sight of the four carriages on display.

Leonard dashed out the shop, and on passing an exclusive dress shop he spied a beautiful deep blue Evening dress in the window display then rushed in and bought it for Penny, ( _Leonard had noticed Penny's dress size one morning when taking a couple of her dresses to the dry cleaners the previous week._

 _He had been staring at the label while waiting an absolute age for the assistant to finish talking to her boyfriend on the phone and somehow Penny's dress size was now etched indelibly on his memory, as was Dave, the girls boyfriends name. )_

Then after paying, he rushed into a stationers hoping they sold cards as well but was disappointed to find they only sold ones with pictures on the front and a blank page inside in which One can write One's own message on, with the envelope included.

Finding one with red roses on the front he purchased that and dashed back to the train store then stopped, dashed back to the stationers and purchased some wrapping paper (which also was adorned with red roses) , then he dashed back to the train store, to find to his astonishment that Sheldon was still in the same position as he was when Leonard left, then Leonard realised he still needed Sellotape and dashed back to the stationers and purchased one of those too, then it was back to the train store, to find that Sheldon had actually moved and was now purchasing the four carriages as well, Then they left with Sheldon still not even aware that Leonard had left the train store, and waxing lyrical over his railway purchases.

 ** **Home****

Penny took off Honey Marie's coat and also her own then she began wrapping up the Leather wallet for Leonard complete with a Picture of herself and Honey Marie inside before hiding them in her and Leonard's bedroom.

While outside Leonard had dropped off Sheldon and was struggling to wrap Penny's present in his car before he wrote lovingly Happy Anniversary, before telling her how happy beyond belief Penny had made him, how valuable She was to him not only as a wife but also as a dear friend, his Soul mate. And he was certain that he would go on to enjoy many more happy years with her always at his side, then he finished his with "I love you so much and 'xxxxxxx' too.

Leonard crept up to the lounge window and waited till Penny went to the kitchen then he silently opened the front door and crept upstairs to hide her present, then quickly came downstairs and made like he had just got in by shutting the front door at which Penny appeared "Hi honey", She said kissing him, coffee?","yes Please Honey", Leonard replied removing his shoes and then he picked up Honey Marie and sat down with her on his lap while Penny made coffee.

 **Next Morning**

"Leonard, please wake up sweetie", Penny wheedled, kissing him.

"Huh?", Leonard mumbled feigning heavy sleep.

"Leonard!, Honey it's our first anniversary today", "You haven't forgotten have you?", Penny accused him her voice stricken.

Leonard answered her by reaching down and pulling her card out from the bedside table, kissed her passionately on the lips and then "Happy anniversary Honey, I love you so much", then he gave her her card.

"Oh Leonard! Honey, that's so romantic, I love it", she said, wiping the tears from her eyes that had flowed as she read his words.

Then she handed him his card.

And this time it was Leonard who shed a few tears as he read , 'Honey my dream was to be a famous actress, winning the best Actress award at the Oscars. But now Leonard and this may sound clichéd but I know now that being married to you my darling I Am living the dream and thank you for our beautiful daughter, I Love you so much, with all my love, Penny.

Then she handed him his present and Leonard handed Penny hers, which she quickly opened

"Leonard!, Oh Honey it's beautiful, but I didn't buy you anything as expensive as this", Penny told him in dismay.

Meanwhile Leonard had also opened his and told her that this beautiful picture in this wallet represented the most precious two people that I could ever dare to hope to call mine, My beautiful Wife and Daughter, thus mollified Penny began kissing him passionately and things might have progressed further, had not Honey Marie began crying for her feed. And after she fell asleep Penny and Leonard picked up where they left off.

That Night, with Bernadette and Howard looking after Honey Marie, Leonard took Penny out for a Dinner and dance, ( _after Penny had gone shopping for some shoes and nail varnish to match her new dress, but as far as Leonard was concerned it was worth every Cent, as Penny looked absolutely stunning as a result)._

And in Penny's special memento box of the couple, there was placed their anniversary cards and even the wrapping paper from her present folded and carefully labelled 'Deep Blue Evening Dress'.

* * *

But six weeks later, Penny was shocked to the core to find she was expecting again, And as she said to Leonard after she had almost got over the shock, "Honey you might be a nerd, but your little soldiers certainly ain't".

To which Leonard had replied "Well Honey that Nebraskan air sure is good for giving a man, get up and go"  
And Later one Friday when they were all in 4a after Penny had announced it, Bernadette still stunned at Penny's declaration, asked her "pregnant?, already?", "Yup, you know I could never keep my hands off of Leonard, besides my limbic system needed to take his pants off", Penny replied. Just then Honey Marie started crying for a feed and Penny took her into Leonard's old room to feed her, the room still smelt of Leonard, which rapidly got Penny aroused, "Wow I can't believ this, this is absolutely crazy?, My man is like a drug to me, and now I've just got to get my next fix", she thought. And later as soon as they got home and settled Honey Marie down, she did.

With Penny's return Amy offered to change Honey Marie who had shown appreciation for her feed by filling her diaper.

Later Penny at three months and Bernadette at eight and a half months went together for Penny to have her scan and Bernadette to be assessed by the midwife, both accompanied by their respective Husbands ,

Penny lay on the bed and shivered once again as the gel was spread on her abdomen, "now then Mrs Hofstadter, let's see how we are doing", moving the scanner around she detected a heartbeat,

"Yes that sounds fine, good strong heartbeat there and Hmm, that's strange", then moving the scanner again round Penny's abdomen she picked up another ", "Well that ones strong too, congratulations Mrs Hofstadter, You're having twins this time", " ** **Leonard!**** ", Penny shrieked, announcing his name to the entire hospital, then afterwards saying to him, "didn't I tell you, I was not putting this body through three children", "Be fair Honey, you're having two at once so that only counts as two", he answered, "Shut up Leonard", she said, then recovering her composure once things had sunk in, smiled and told him "I love you so much". "I love you too Honey", he replied, then kissed her soundly.

Then three weeks later Bernadette and Howard Wolowitz were proud to announce the birth of their son Samuel Joseph, and Bernadette was in an ecstasy with the nursery Penny had designed for her as a present to both of them.

It was just a little thing that set things back again, it had been a warm night and Leonard had not been holding Penny as closely as he usually did, with him feeling the heat and Penny began to fret in her mind, that perhaps Leonard was cooling off towards her, also because of his mind being on a problem with working out the strength of the magnetic field needed to distort light from a laser that he had been working on at Cal-Tech he became more than a little distracted , his attention not being so much on his wife as it usually was, which only served to exacerbate the fears in her fragile state of mind. Penny had after giving birth to Honey Marie, and along with Leonard, had resumed her yoga exercises and running on her running machine in the basement in order to get her shape back but alas was now too afraid to even do some gentle yoga in case she hurt the twins, so that now with the twins though still tiny, Penny's weight had ballooned two and a half stone all of which plunged Penny back into depression over her weight and her insecurities, And yet again she began blaming herself for failing Leonard in her own imagined unattractiveness, added to that with her hormones all over the place, this quickly accelerated her distress, Until Leonard becoming aware of Penny's depression immediately acted in being more considerate towards her and reminding her often how much she meant to him and how much he loved her in spite of her shape, in the end though she had to return back to her sessions with Dr Julie Jeffers but in spite of these sessions which she would attend with Leonard always by her side, her depression deepened and it was decided by Julie, that Penny should return to the special unit at the psychiatric hospital. It then became a tricky situation Leonard now finding himself once again parted from Penny and so fearful that she would sink back into her own safe little world found himself also sinking into the deep black depression, blaming himself for being unable to reach Penny and pull her from her despair. Julie was now so concerned for the both of them, she decided to try and contact Leonard's Mother, Dr Beverly Hofstadter, and update her of the situation. As Dr Hofstadter was a noted consultant in this field.

Beverly Hofstadter thanked Dr Jeffers for her call and with shaking hand replaced the phone on it's cradle, she leaned back in her chair and thought deeply, Here at last was her chance to reconcile with Leonard, She had spent many sleepless nights trying to think, how to tell him she was sorry for all those years of her indifference to him?, what words could she use to convince him of her love for him?. Now divorced and so lonely, she had, had much time to mull over the past, now she was noticing other people with their children and grandchildren and noticed the love and joy they shared together. Now she realized her own need for that love, not only taking, but giving too, she found herself cursing all that she had learned in higher education, the need to analyze everything so that in the end it became harder and harder to switch from an objective analytical mode back to a human one . After all in the end it was her own observations of those happy people that had finally taught her the most important lesson of all, for the first time in many years Beverly laid her head on her arms and wept.

Later after composing herself she considered the situation, Penny really needed help not only for the sake of her unborn twins or Honey Marie but Leonard too and Beverley although she didn't show it at the time liked Penny, for she too saw in the girl the fine qualities that had attracted her son to Penny in the first place. She was very well aware too of the enormous amount of love there existed between Penny & Leonard and was extremely troubled that if they remained apart it could well finish both of them mentally and emotionally. She had failed Leonard but she was damned if she was going to let this little family fail, She had to act now, and fast..

Leonard was sitting on the couch vacantly staring at the T.V. without even being aware what program was on, in fact Leonard was barely holding himself together for Little Honey Marie's sake.

Just as he picked his daughter up to change her, the doorbell rang and carrying Honey Marie he opened the door to find his Mother standing on the doorstep, Before Leonard could say anything his Mother threw her arms round him holding him close to her and still holding Honey Marie, Leonard and she cried together.

Every morning at 10 am Beverly would drive Leonard and her Granddaughter to see Penny, as Dr Julie Jeffers had handed Penny's case over to Beverly.  
Through the first session after Penny fed Honey Marie, she have would Penny and Leonard sit together and just hold each other without saying anything, believing that there is no stronger medicine than love, all the while she would cuddle her Granddaughter while reading through Penny's medical records.

She felt saddened at the severity of Penny's breakdown, and resolved her determination to unite the family

Beverly attached no blame to Leonard for not inviting her to the wedding, that was after all her own fault, but no matter, now hopefully I can turn things round.

So while both recovered ( _Penny needing more time than Leonard_ ) Beverly cooked and looked after Honey Marie except for the little girl's feeds as Penny would express milk in order that her daughter could continue to have breast milk.

Such was her bond now with her Granddaughter, that Beverly decided to move to Pasadena, Now she was no longer lonely, now that she had been reconciled with her Son, And absolutely adored her daughter in law and was completely enchanted with Honey Marie, and eager to bond with her unborn twin grandchildren.. The scare had affected Leonard a lot, as it was quite some time before he was able to relax again, always on guard, always watching Penny for little signs that she might be regressing, so terrified therefore he had become in losing her back to her isolated world. If she did and he could not reach her this time. He thought feeling the panic welling up inside him. The fact remained, Leonard simply could not live without Penny.

Later, after Penny had her scan at her second trimester, She was found to be carrying two little girls.  
Later that day, the four would be seated in front of the T.V. To watch the video of the scan and Penny and Leonard hugged each other in joy, as they watched Beverly cuddling Honey Marie, tears streaming down her face, watching in awe at her unborn twin granddaughters on the screen.

Three weeks Later the four Hofstadter's with Wyatt and Marcia and Pete and Janey spent a happy two weeks at Lake McConaughy, Wyatt and Marcia and Pete and Janey were staying in rooms above the diner, while Penny and Leonard, Honey Marie and Beverley were staying at Lake-House.

On the second day Pete and Wyatt went fishing, just like the old days, and Janey, Beverley and Marcia went to North Platte to do some shopping, they had asked Penny and Leonard if they would like to go?, But Leonard quickly declined at feeling Penny squeeze his hand hard in panic at the mention of North Platte. So the three women took little Honey Marie with them, also taking with them some of Penny's milk to feed her. Leonard still holding Penny's hand led her to the Jacuzzi where they made gentle tender love, with heartfelt words as well as actions in declaring their undying love for each other.

Later in the week, Leonard took Penny back to the beach where they sunbathed and made love in the long grass just as they did on the day that Honey Marie was conceived ( though this time with careful consideration to Penny's condition.

Upon their return they all spent a happy evening in the diner, Pete and Janey were very pleased at the way Jan and her husband were running the diner, and the laughter as Pete and Wyatt teased each other over the small size of the fish the other caught.  
Beverley was thoroughly enjoying the warm close family atmosphere and was animatedly talking about their genius granddaughter with Marcia and Janey, And Penny and Leonard, both eating with one hand, as neither could, it seemed to be able let go of the other. In fact throughout that holiday and for a long time after, they would always to be found sitting close together holding hands.

After two weeks of sunbathing and walking and sharing laughter and comfort with family and friends, Penny felt much more secure in her relationship with Leonard through, his continual reminders everyday to Penny of how much she meant to him started to become firmly entrenched in her mind

Soon Penny was well enough to return to fronting the make over show as Helen had covered for her while she regained her mental health, also Kelly and Sarah brilliantly coped with the interior design until Penny could return.

Beverly would often babysit so Leonard and Penny could increase their time spent together, IE., Dancing, dining out, and going to the movies, which went a long way to helping Penny to recover.

Penny now with only four weeks to go was on edge, anxious and restless, not knowing the solution to her anxiety, or what it was she desired.

In her last session with Beverly, Beverly had told her not to bottle things up, not to feel afraid to express her fears and not to think she was weak or inadequate by doing so. As she well knew Leonard loved her very much and her happiness was his top priority, and he will not think less of you by telling him, so please understand it is vital that you talk to him.

And Penny even now feeling the fear rising inside her told Leonard how she was feeling. Leonard thanked her for talking to him appreciating how hard it was for her to do so.

Now he thought about her anxiety, and what he could do for her to overcome it?.

Suddenly Leonard had a brainwave, where did Penny feel safe and happy?, when she was back home in Nebraska. He remembered how happy she was when they stayed at the farm, so back to the farm they will go. Penny was too nervous at this stage in her pregnancy to fly, so Leonard hired a Winnebago and Penny, Himself, their Daughter and his Mother began the long drive up to Nebraska.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

 **Family**

Beverly smiled in her delight as she watched Honey Marie laying on her play mat and concentrating intensely on her activity center, she particularly liked pressing the large blue button which would start a nursery rhyme playing or the tortoise and hare sliders which clicked as she moved tortoise or hare. Left or right.

Penny was glad that Leonard had Decided on a Winnebago, at the size she was now she would have been well cramped in a car.

But this is what she was finally understanding with Leonard, that when she was unhappy, and did not know what to do. She could talk to him, he'd think about it and come up with the right answer,

.

Beverly had learned that loneliness was a hard foe to deal with, Penny was well aware of that, Beverly had explained to her that Penny when feeling acute loneliness would drink, then pick up guys not for sex but just to be held, to make the loneliness go away, but when they had used her body they would just leave and when they did not value her then Penny would feel less valuable in her own eyes adding to her feelings of shame and self loathing, which in turn would cause her great distress which she would try to cover up by this hard emotional barrier she built up to try and protect herself from the hurt.

And when she met Leonard and she saw in his eyes the high value he regarded her with, but because she could not believe it in herself, she would push him away. In fact Penny so relieved at understanding the explanation had Beverly write it all down so she could read it, and learn to see herself through Leonard's eyes.

Penny wished Honey Marie would just press another button for a change, she was getting fed up with the words to Hey-diddle-diddle running through her head. Beverly didn't seem to mind as she laughed delightedly each time her granddaughter pressed that particular button, which only encouraged Honey Marie all the more.

Penny after praying that Beverley never buys her new grand Daughter a drum, went forward to see if her husband was OK and to get away from Hey-diddle-diddle for a while.

Upon entering the cab she noticed Leonard looking tired, and suggested "Look it's getting dark, Why don't we pull over for the night and I'll make some coffee". Leonard gladly pulled over at the first available stop he came to on the freeway, and Penny made some lunch for them all, after feeding Honey Marie and after the adults had all eaten Leonard laid his head down and while Beverly read a bedtime story for her granddaughter. Penny laid down with Leonard in their usual positions her spooning in front of Leonard, and he placed his hand protectively over her bulge holding her gently, Penny thought to herself, "all that time I've been looking to be held just like this, and I find it in a guy I was trying to push away", she noted, "Leonard" she asked, "are you OK, with being away from your work I mean?, because I remember you telling me about the important experiment you were working on last week?".

"It's OK, Alex knows what to do and she can cover for me, and I thought I told you some time ago that my family takes priority now, besides as you know the university is keen to promote a family image now and your attendance with me at that fund raising gathering a couple of weeks ago, got us no end of extra funding from rich businesswomen and rich businessman's wives encouraging their husbands to put more funds into Cal-Tech in fact everyone was saying how so cute we were as a little family. So after success like that I don't think the university can complain too much

then she snuggled closer against her husband and went to sleep. Only to be rudely woken by the ringing of her phone at 2 o'clock in the morning. Penny, Bleary eyed reached for her phone and checked who was calling, "Hello?", Penny answered, and then she struggled to understand what the person was saying over the background noise of some Bar somewhere in L. A.

"OK, and you think it begins with 'W'?, And the bar has leather covered stools, are you sure they are the tiles you want?, right I'll look into it, bye", then with an incredulous expression on her face Penny ended the call.

"What was all that about Honey?", Leonard asked as he too had been awakened by the ring tone.

"It was a client, would you believe she is in a Bar with some girlfriends and has taken a liking to the ceramic tiles behind the bar, probably while still wearing her wine goggles, and the bars name she thinks begins with 'W', and the bar stools are all upholstered in leather, and she thought she would ring me and let me know, so I can go there and see the tiles for myself, and order them for her?", Penny explained.

"Well?, it's not much to go on, you had better write it all down", Leonard suggested.

Penny could not help but to burst out laughing at her husbands suggestion.

"Oh Leonard, I do love you, Sweetie really, by tomorrow morning she won't even remember her own name, let alone remember where she had been, or even if she called me at all", Penny explained.

"Penny, as you get a close up view as you do of famous peoples lifestyles, please be honest, do you ever regret giving up acting?, I mean that could so easily have been you", Leonard asked her seriously.

"No sweetie, not at all, sure I used to when I first moved to Pasadena for a while. But I see now that many of them are so unhappy, they seem to drift from one relationship to another, and if they go shopping or to the gym or anywhere, they are hounded by photographers who sell the pictures to magazines who then make comments about who they are with and what they are wearing that day. Many of them when I go to visit their houses for a contract, I find I often have to go through security first, sure they have the money, but things are so easily purchased that I don't believe they have that same satisfaction on buying something they have worked hard for. I remember one famous actress I went to see once about refurbishing her lounge, was obliviously talking to me while behind her back her husband was outrageously flirting and groping with her P.A., it was just so awful to see, I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Believe me Leonard, I am firmly convinced that I have the best life now, I have a certain amount of fame through fronting the makeover program on T.V., I love using my creative talents in interior design and I am happy to earn a good living from it, and the program, and I have the best Husband and family in the world, I could ever have dared hope to have", Penny took Leonard's face in her hands and looked him straight in the eyes, "Truly Leonard, Darling, I would not swap my life now, for all the fame and money in the world", Then she kissed him passionately in a very special way to convince Leonard of her deep deep love for him, then they snuggled down close together and went back to sleep.

The next morning Leonard made breakfast for them all, while Penny had her shower and Beverley watched cartoons with Honey Marie. At which point Penny entered and was enchanted at the sight of Beverley heartily laughing along with her granddaughter at Top Cats efforts to thwart Officer Dibble, then even more laughter after that at the antics of the Flintstones.

How wonderful it was for Penny and indeed also for Leonard to see his Mother enjoying life with loved ones and laughing at silly things like cartoons that the old Beverley would have considered utter nonsense. Yes Penny was glad to admit she wholeheartedly loved the new Beverley very much indeed.

she was interrupted in her thoughts by Beverly's request for Penny to look after Honey Marie, and while Beverly moved up towards the cab and prepared for her turn at driving. Penny sat on the couch and cuddled Honey Marie as they watched some more cartoons on T.V. And after half an hour Honey Marie fell asleep, Penny placed her into her crib and began making herself another coffee then sitting on the couch she began to read her magazine which they had bought at the last stop ( _Leonard was again disgruntled at the lack of science magazines available at truck stops_ ) but Penny was happy at finding several celebrity gossip mags, "I'm so happy for you", Leonard told her sarcastically as she boarded the Winnebago with an armful of them, at this Penny set her bottom lip trembling and with wide open eyes and in a little girls voice said "don't you love me anymore" which prompted Leonard to hug and kiss her in reply. Beverley warned her they were going to make a move and the Winnebago headed for the highway. Penny finishing her magazine put on a DVD to watch with Leonard, thought again how much more comfortable this way of traveling was. three hours later Leonard woke to see his wife who had also fallen asleep on the couch and sitting beside her he began to gently rub her back and on rousing she smiled at him laying her head on his chest and began to doze but then Honey Marie woke up and began crying for a feed. Penny got up using Leonard's shoulder for support to help her stand and went to change her Daughter and feed her.

It was on Leonard's turn at the wheel, that they finally entered Nebraska, and the nearer they got the less anxious Penny felt in herself, especially when she began to see surroundings that were so familiar to her.

finally 45 minutes later, late that afternoon they rolled up the drive to the farm. Wyatt & Marcia were waiting as they pulled to a halt Leonard let Penny go first before Beverley carrying Honey Marie then Leonard brought up the rear.

"Hey Slugger, You know I wanted grandchildren but I sure wasn't in that much of a hurry", he said hugging her. "anymore cracks like that Pop and I'll leave them behind with you when we go", a smiling Penny warned him. Then another long warm hug from her mother. Leonard held out his hand to Wyatt who, ignoring the hand caught him in a bear hug as if saying more than words could, his thanks for the love and care Leonard continued to bestow on his Daughter.

Beverly smiled at Marcia and deposited little Honey Marie into her arms. Then, "Leonard and I are just taking a walk together we'll be back in a bit", Penny informed them, "OK honey see you soon suppers on so don't be too late", her mother said.

Leonard puzzled "where are we going", he asked Penny.

"to a very special place that will always forever be in my heart", Penny told him, and taking his hand they walked to the barn.

Suddenly Penny Knew now this was where she was going, where she wanted to be, something had to be said and where they exchanged their vows was the place to say it.

Inside the barn Penny turned to Leonard and holding his hands said "You know I have difficulty to say what's in my heart but I just had to let you know Honey, that I well know that you have suffered so much from my problem these last couple of years, and before you say anything", she said seeing Leonard about to open his mouth in protest, "I know also that you would have done exactly the same thing again out of your deep love that you have for me. I love you so much Leonard and the vows I made here I repeat to you that forever my love will always be for you.

Leonard was too over come for words and they stood there holding each other tightly.

They slowly walked back hand in hand to the house and as dusk fell and the stars were just faintly beginning to appear, they arrived back at the house. It was a warm and comforting scene they saw in the kitchen Honey Marie was in her high chair eating a rusk, a large pot of a beef stew sat in the middle of the table and Marcia and Beverly were in animated conversation on the acts of genius seen in their granddaughter Wyatt had disappeared, and while Penny & Leonard were eating he reappeared carrying a beautiful rocking horse for Penny and Leonard's Daughters. Again a present from old Claude, Penny decided then and there that Leonard and she would visit him the next day to give their heartfelt thanks. and after eating Penny changed her Daughter and put her to bed and then she and Leonard retired themselves. Penny was at first unable to sleep so Leonard stroked her hair while holding her close to him and Penny fell asleep soon afterwards.

Penny woke and felt really energized and full of life, whether it was being back in the place she grew up and loved, she did not know, but again she was so reluctant to rise feeling so comfortable at being held so tenderly by her Husband.

However she was given a helping hand by her twins pressing on her bladder so reluctantly she rose for her bathroom break and with a smile at her sleeping husband she went to see if Honey Marie was awake and to make some coffee. On entering the kitchen Marcia was holding Honey Marie, "you should have called me Mom I could have seen to her", Penny said to her mother with a smile.

"It's OK Penny we were just getting reacquainted, sides you were busy getting some rest for the twins, Here take some coffee up to Leonard, and here's yours, Penny took the mugs and returned to Leonard. "Honey" she said softly, "Coffee", Leonard stirred opened his eyes and smiled at her, His special smile that was always just for her that was reflected in his eyes whenever he saw her, "And that's why I get so excited over him", Penny realized, "his whole heart is in his eyes, for me".

Borrowing Marcia's car they traveled the 12 miles to Claude Harrison,s place, the house was surrounded with the evidence of old Claude's craft, logs sawn into planks, axes and chippings everywhere, entering the house Leonard was struck by a picture it seemed of Penny dressed in old fashioned clothes, "See your admirin' the picture mister", he said, "that's Esther the Sister of your Grandmother", he said to Penny, "folks said she wouldn't go for a feller like me but she did to the surprise of a lot of folks, I often think back to the times we shared, tell the truth It's the only thing that's kept me going these 7 lonely years or so, that and my whittlin'".

"I just wanted to come and say thank you so much for the lovely walnut bed and the beautiful rocking horse Penny said then looking at Leonard for his agreement", but the old man seemed to have lost the power of speech for the moment till finally he said "I should thank you Penny, I saw the look on your face when you looked at your husband there and it reminded me of how my Esther used to look at me, you've just made an old man very happy with that memory", he said his eyes filled with tears. Then rising from his chair he retrieved an envelope from a shelf and handed it to Penny, "I'd be obliged if you would give that to your Pa", he told her. they then stayed for an hour or so after that and then returned to the farm and that evening the news came that Claude had died that night in his sleep, they said he must have gone peacefully as they found him in his bed with a smile on his face.  
Penny couldn't bear to hear anymore and burying her head in Leonard's shoulder she wept. Later after hearing of old Claude's death. Wyatt opened the envelope. "well I'll be durned, It's old Claude's will, seems he's left everything to you Penny.

Penny gasped in surprise as the land old Claude had left to her was about 80 acres in size.

"He didn't have anyone else to leave it to, I guess and he must have decided to give it to you, with your young family and all", Wyatt considered.

As the days passed Leonard would once again help out doing chores on the farm for Wyatt and Penny liked nothing better than to watch him work, often cuddling Honey Marie while she sat

In fact Penny would often not the only one watching as one day Wyatt, Marcia and Beverly were watching the couple, "that's sure a fine boy you got there", he said to Beverly, "you must be proud", "I am, Very much so", she replied smilingly.

A week later and "OK Penny the first head is crowning, deep breaths now push", and once again Penny squeezed the life out of Leonard,s hand Before giving birth to April, then 15 minutes Later her sister Angela followed, now the little family had increased to 5.

Penny gradually overcame her illness, firmly convinced she was that it was due mainly to Leonard's deep love for her.

And with old Claude's legacy she decided to build accommodation and riding stables for tourists, which would be run by her mother and her brother and his wife, which would bring extra income to the farm

The Hofstadter's had their extension built on the back of the house for two extra bedrooms.

Penny as well as the makeover show, was also given the assignment of fronting a baby and toddler show, trying out new products for the audience of mothers to be and mothers of young children and babies, and Honey Marie, April and Angela would also often appear on the show.

"Leonard If you're sure honey, I don't want to force you into anything", Penny reasoned.

"It's OK Honey I think our family is complete now so I think it would be best", so Leonard had the snip. Stuart married Jeannie then finally at a dinner party they held for the gang it was announced By Sheldon, with Amy by his side that they were expecting a Genius, "Get outa here", was all that Penny could say, and Leonard gave her that smile that was always just for Penny.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

 **Morning Troubles**

Penny strapped her three Daughters securely into the back seat of her small car and then struggled to fit the stroller in the trunk, the trunk though already half filled with samples for her client that morning meant that Penny had to make several attempts to fit it all in before closing the trunk albeit with some difficulty. She got behind the wheel with some relief after her exertions and turned the key to start the car, and while the starter motor operated correctly, unfortunately the engine refused to cooperate. On the fourth attempt the engine started and ran albeit very roughly for about five minutes only to stall as Penny attempted to move off her drive. Penny sat there for the moment in utter disbelief at how this day was going.

1) Leonard had been working nights at Cal-Tech for the last two weeks on a high energy laser project hence the need to perform the experiment at a time as more power was required for the experiment and Penny was only seeing him for a couple of hours in the evening.

2) Honey Marie decided that, instead of eating her jelly on toast, thought instead that the toast would make a super hat and placed it jelly side down on her head.

3) Then as Penny washed Honey Marie's hair, while trying at the same time to keep a close eye on the twins, the washing machine seeming to feel suddenly neglected at the lack of attention paid to it by Penny, made it's feelings known by spewing soapy water all over the floor so that by the time Penny had cleared that up she was over two hours late for her appointment with her client by the time she had got the girls in the car.

So Penny while still sitting in her car rang her client to apologize that she would not be able to make it that morning, only to receive a rather irate reaction from the client who had only today free as the next month or two she would be shooting at Pinewood studios in London on a new film from tomorrow.

After which the actress abruptly ended the call.

Penny sat and thought through her options, Beverley was on a conference in Chicago. Bernadette and Amy were at work, and Leonard was still at Cal tech, Penny had just decided to call a garage when "Hi there Babe, you have a little trouble there?". Penny groaned, 'Oh no please let it not be the slimy sleazeball from number 11', she thought to herself. "Do you need any help?, as your car seems to be blocking half of the sidewalk", Sleazeball asked again. "It won't start at all now?", Penny told him, cringing inwardly as she noticed his eyes were fixed firmly on her cleavage as she spoke to him.

While Penny pushed the car back onto the drive from the drivers side and sleazeball pushed from the back while all the while admiring the view of Penny's ass as he did so. Then he gave Penny and the girls a lift to Cal-Tech so Penny could take Leonard's car and all the time Penny struggled to stop Sleazeball's hand from fondling her leg each time he changed gear as she rang Leonard, finally to Penny's great relief they reached their destination and as she set up the stroller for the twins, while feeling very conscious of Sleazeball's eyes glued to her ass.

And it was with great relief for Penny, that Leonard who had at that very opportune moment had returned to his car just after they arrived and was able to take his eldest daughter from Mr Sleazeball. After Leonard thanked him for his kind help Penny strapped the girls into the back seat and after one look at a very tired Leonard, she jumped into the driving seat.

"...And it just refused to start and then I had to..", Penny was explaining when Leonard interrupted, "Well I told you you should have bought new instead of used, didn't I", He told her, as he was feeling irritable through his tiredness".

"Oh thanks, so it's all my fault now is it?", Penny snapped at him.

"Well you had enough money to buy new?", Leonard reminded her.

"Oh sorry if I don't want to waste my money, I've had enough of being broke when I was working at the cheesecake factory, Mister, and I don't want to be broke again", Penny answered him as her voice rose an octave.

"Well! I like that, if you had kept to that budget we worked out back then it would have not been so bad", Leonard reminded her again, as he wished he was in his bed right now.

"Thanks, throw another thing into my face why don't you, you short sighted jerk", Penny retorted.

Then as April began crying, obviously not liking her Mom and Dad shouting at each other like that, Penny and Leonard lapsed into a strained silence.

After arriving home Leonard took to his bed without a word to Penny, while Penny made herself a coffee and remembering her friend Cheryl, who she had still kept in touch with from her days as a waitress, she asked a big favour from her and was delighted when Cheryl informed her she would be glad to look after the girls this afternoon, And so the rest of the morning Penny was kept busy with the girls and also the task of coaxing her washing from a stubborn machine, in order to dry it.

Penny loaded her samples into Leonard's car and after dropping her girls off at Cheryl's, Penny rang her client and asked hopefully if she could see her that afternoon, and fortunately for Penny the client had had a few glasses of wine with her lunch earlier and was now in a much more mellow mood, and agreed for a rescheduled appointment that afternoon.

Leonard despite his tiredness woke up just three hours later. His fight with Penny had unsettled him very much. "Why did I have to bring that up, I knew darn well how depressed Penny got at times when she worked at that restaurant, and for Penny if it wasn't the glass of wine or two to make her feel better it was shopping, and now like a jerk you go and upset her", he berated himself.

Leonard knew he would seriously have to make amends towards his wife, Penny though was frustrating for Leonard, but in a good way. For whenever he gave her some money to get herself something nice, Penny would always return with something she had purchased for her girls, and explain to Leonard, that she did not see anything she liked enough to buy for herself.

No it would be no good just giving Penny money, Leonard would have to make amends by doing it all himself. So he reached over for his cell and started making some calls.

After a very successful meeting with her client. Penny arranged with her to carry out the refurbishment to her house while the client was away filming in England, and feeling a lot happier after her success, Penny stopped off for a coffee and a sandwich. And as she ate her mind returned to the events of that morning, particularly her fight with Leonard. She had really missed him these last two weeks and a couple of hours with him of an evening was simply not enough for Penny, as her craving for her husband had not abated one iota since their wedding, and as she remembered how so tired he looked and how she had upset him her tears began to flow, she just wanted to hold him tightly in her arms and tell him that she loved him despite her feeling that Leonard was in the wrong, and thus galvanized into action to rush back to her husband she quickly drank her coffee and after paying the bill she headed for Cheryl's and to collect her girls, "maybe if I can cook something special for him tonight, then we can spend those two hours cuddling up together?', She thought to herself.

After some difficulty of keeping to the speed limit, she reached Cheryl's house and rang the bell.

"Hey girl, you're too early, you collect the girls about 09:45 tomorrow morning. And all you have got to do is to drop the girls night things off later this evening", Cheryl informed her.

"What!, Cheryl, what's going on?", Penny asked her.

"Don't ask me?, you had better ask your husband, he arranged it all", Cheryl explained.

Feeling bewildered by this turn of events Penny returned to her car and made her way home, only to find that where she had left her car on the drive, there was now a brand new eight seater MPV standing in it's place. Upon opening her door she called out to Leonard, "Honey?, What's going on?", she asked as she entered the lounge.

Only to see Leonard standing there and holding a big bunch of flowers for her.

"I'm so sorry for this morning Penny, I was such a jerk!, can you forgive me?", he pleaded, looking quite penitent.

Penny rushed into his arms and nearly squashed her flowers. "Oh Leonard!, I love you so much", she told him before hungrily pressing her lips on his.

"How on earth did you sweet talk that great Loaner out there, out of the garage?", she asked him.

"Well I called in a few favours and so we now have the loan of the Mpv while your car is being repaired", he told her. "Now we are going to that Italian restaurant you like tonight and then perhaps a movie afterwards?", Leonard revealed.

"Oh Leonard, that sounds wonderful", and after quicly putting her flowers in some water, Penny rushed upstairs to the shower.

Then wearing her favourite dress Penny stepped outside where on giving her the keys, Leonard told her "here you are you can drive".

And as Penny reached to insert the key into the ignition she noticed a name tag on the fob which read 'Penny'. "Leonard?, have you done it again", she asked, her eyes as big as saucers.

"Guilty as charged. It will be easier for you to strap the girls in, the three seats at the back will fold up giving you more room for strollers and your samples", Leonard explained.

Penny rushed to hug him tightly as she cried tears of joy over her husbands loving concern for her.

"But aren't you going to work this evening", she asked in puzzlement.

"Nope we successfully finished the project early this morning", Leonard told her.

"Wow!, a new car, a night out, and my husband in bed with me the whole night, this evening just could not get any better", she told him, then after sharing a passionate kiss she headed for Cheryl's to drop the girls things off before heading for the restaurant.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

(with grateful thanks to SRAM for the idea for this chapter)

 **Bernadette's Lecture**

A little over a week after Leonard had bought Penny the MPV, they had invited Howard and Bernadette with their son Samuel round for dinner, and the four couples chatted and watched the Hofstadter girls and Samuel Wolowitz playing together, when Leonard stood up and went to make coffee for them all, when to Leonard's surprise Bernadette said she would give Leonard a hand. What surprised Leonard was the fact that Bernadette had been rather distant towards Leonard all evening.

And as soon as they entered the kitchen, Bernadette revealed the reason for her coldness towards Leonard.

"I want a word with you Mr Hofstadter", she began, the tone of her voice telling Leonard that Bernadette meant some serious business.

Leonard feeling stunned at the sudden iron in her voice, Absently corrected her, "Doctor Hofstadter".

"Yeah well as I don't see any brains in you at all at the moment it's Mister", she informed him, then continued, "are you really aware how upset Penny is over you fighting with her the other week?, are you?", she demanded glaring at him.

"But I thought she was OK?, she didn't mention it to me?", Leonard puzzled.

"Of course she wouldn't, she loves you, but you hurt her bad. For God's sake Leonard, I don't need to tell you how crazy she is over you?. I don't need to tell you that she loves your Daughters more than her life?. Look at this place?, does it look like her apartment used to?. My God Leonard if I saw Penny's apartment and then this place, I could have sworn they were inhabited by two different people.

She is so proud of her family, so proud she works damn hard holding a career, keeping this house spotless, taking care of you and your girls in the most dedicated loving way possible. And she does it all for you, so you can be so proud of her, so you Leonard can have no doubts whatsoever in loving, valuing and cherishing that stunningly beautiful, talented and capable wife that you have been so incredibly lucky to find, Leonard that woman CRAVES your love. I tell you truly Leonard, If there was a worldwide lottery, then you are the sole winner of the jackpot", Bernadette informed him her jaw jutting aggressively in her righteous indignation of Leonard's treatment of Penny.

"But I thought things were smoothed over last week", Leonard said.

Bernadette's scorn was something to behold. "Smoothed over?, you think it's enough that you can just wave your credit card and everything will be OK?", then at the sight of Leonard's distress as her words hit their mark, Bernadette softened her tone, "I love both you guys, you have become my dearest friends, and you shouldn't need me to fix things between you?. I beg you now Leonard think very carefully, what you, not your credit card!, can do to show your love and appreciation for her".

And at their return Penny noticed straight away the anxious tension shown by her Husband.

Later after Leonard and Penny had retired for the night, Penny asked him outright, "What did Bernadette say to you?".

Leonard knew in his heart it would be no good hiding things from Penny and he revealed all.

"I'm sorry Honey, I begged her not to say anything. It's OK, really,", and Penny kissed him to emphasize her point.

But Leonard knew all too well, It wasn't OK, Bernadette was absolutely right, for she had given him the huge kick up his butt that he really needed, and wasn't it he himself that was the one subconsciously leaving his clothes in a line and all over his own great fear of losing Penny. And why was that?, it was because Leonard knew damn well that if he searched all over the world he could never find another like her, nope not in a million years.

Leonard realized he had let himself get too distracted by his work so he was guilty of not paying attention to his wife that she deserved and that so much more than normal, he had let his tiredness influence his mood towards her, and Leonard realized that neither of those reasons were absolutely any excuse whatsoever.

And for the next few days not only did Leonard become more loving and appreciative of his wife, but he thought long and hard over what He, Leonard, could do for his lovely wife.

 **Four weeks later**

Bernadette had finally managed to get her fretful Son to sleep and had just settled down with Howard to watch their favourite comedy together when the doorbell rang. "It's OK Honey I'll get it", Howard told her getting up.

Opening the door he found Amy standing there and looking quite flustered. "I'm so sorry to be calling at this time of night, can I speak to Bernadette please?", Amy asked him in earnest.

"Yeah, sure, please come in", Howard told her.

"Are you OK Amy", Bernadette asked as they sat in the dining room.

"I'm sorry but I just didn't know what I should do?, You see yesterday I saw Leonard going into a massage parlour, and I just don't understand it", Amy disclosed nervously.

"I Know", Bernadette admitted.

"You know?, what should we do?, I mean do we tell Penny or talk to Leonard first. I really thought he loved Penny?", Amy told her.

"Yes he does, and all the more so. That's why he's going there. You see Leonard and Howard are having lessons on giving massage so Leonard can please Penny more. A grad student teaches them the art of massage and Leonard and Howard helps the grad student with his course in order to obtain his doctorate. His relatives run the parlour and it is a very respectable and legitimate business too, and as Howard and Leonard learn together it will not lead them into any possible temptation", Bernadette revealed, then added, "It was my idea when Leonard told me about his plan, to have Howard learn the art together with him.

Amy gave a sigh of relief, "Wow, I'm so glad to hear that, But now I feel so terrible, I suspected a very dear friend of doing something awful behind his wife's back. I should have thought better of Leonard", Amy admitted.

"Don't beat yourself up Amy, It surprised and unsettled you, and none of us are perfect, But don't tell Penny, as it's Leonard's big surprise for her", Bernadette asked her.

And as she thought of Penny receiving her 'surprise' from Leonard and then Bernadette receiving the same from Howard, Amy's eyes widened., "I wonder if I could get Sheldon to take some lessons on giving massage", She said unable to keep the lascivious look off of her face at the thought.

"Amy!, Please!. Too much information", Bernadette said guessing Amy's line of thought.

Then Amy stayed for 10 minutes longer and then she left.

Leonard arranged for Beverley to have the girls for the night on Saturday, ( much to Beverley's delight), and as Penny returned home after obtaining some wallpaper samples, Leonard was home ready and waiting for her.

"Leonard!, why are the girls not in their pajamas yet?", Penny puzzled as she entered.

"It's OK Honey, my Mother is having them for the night at her place, so we can have some special time together", Leonard told her, his face betraying his excitement, then added You see I have already packed everything in this bag, so all we have to do is drop the girls off on the way".

"Well OK Honey, but nothing too strenuous tonight, I am rather tired", Penny begged.

"Your wish is my command my lady", Leonard agreed.

Penny headed upstairs for a shower and to get changed, but all the while wishing she could just stay home and snuggle up with Leonard in front of the T.V.

They dropped the girls off, and this took some time as Penny issued a long list of instructions to Beverley and then Penny seemed to have difficulty in saying goodbye to her girls for her hugs and kisses for them were indeed quite numerous.

At last they were on their way, and Penny asked Leonard where they were going, and she was not amused when Leonard flashed her that huge annoying grin he wore whenever he kept a secret from her which always made the wheels in Penny's mind whirl.

They pulled up in a car lot and began walking to their destination, when Penny spotted the sign on the building they were heading for.

"A massage parlour?, You're taking me here", She asked him already feeling uneasy.

"Yep, a full body massage will help you relax", Leonard informed her.

"Leonard!, while I appreciate your concern for me, I really don't want a male masseuse, Please", she begged him.

"Hey it'll be OK trust me", He told her.

"OK", Penny answered though still feeling uncomfortable with the whole business.

They entered the reception area which was neat and very business like, when the Woman behind the counter greeted them both.

"My name is Hofstadter, I booked a full body massage for my wife", Leonard informed the receptionist.

"Ah yes Sir we are all ready for you", and she guided Penny to a cubicle, where Penny could undress and don a robe before she was led to the massage room and then she was directed to lay on her front and wait for the masseuse.

After a couple of minutes she heard someone enter the room and felt them put some oil on her feet before they began giving her a most delightful foot massage, but despite this Penny, still feeling unsure was still too tense to enjoy it fully.

The masseuse began working up her legs first the calves and then the backs of her thighs and as they reached near the top of her thighs Penny chanced to look back at who it was but could only see the bare hairy leg of a man. At this the alarm bells rang and clasping her arms to her bosom she turned to tell whoever it was to please stop as I want to leave.

Then Penny gasped with shock for not only was her masseuse also naked, but it was her own dear husband to boot. "Leonard!, what's going on!, why are you in here?" she asked him stunned to her core at this extraordinary event taking place.

Then Leonard explained about getting lessons form the undergrad on giving massage, Penny smiled at him as she warned him, "OK Mister but if you don't do a good job, you don't get a good tip.", and from that moment on Penny immediately relaxed and settled back down for the rest of her massage and admired the view whenever her Leonard was in her field of vision.

Although both would have liked to have taken things further, this was really not the appropriate place and so totally satisfied with being turned to jello by the expert ministrations of her husbands hands, Penny left the parlour hand in hand with Leonard.

Once back in the car, Leonard drove for the beach only stopping to pick up take out on the way. And as they ate in the car. Leonard apologized again to Penny for causing her pain. "You, Penny are extraordinary in the way you care for me and the girls, while also running your business and the house as well. I so should have appreciated all that you do, and I swear my darling I will always pay the utmost attention to you and all the wonderful things you do for me and the girls, I love you so much", Leonard told her from the heart.

Penny already feeling like a million dollars after her massage, felt her hurt feelings over Leonard's lack of appreciation for her slip away.

And afterwards they walked along the beach and talked together, reaffirming their love for each other. Then after just sitting together and gazing up at the stars they made their way for home to finish off what they had started in the massage parlour.

And two or three times a week Leonard during their special times together would give Penny her relaxing massage to ease the cares of her busy day with the result that it brought them even closer together if possible. And Leonard took great care never to forget the wonderful advice he received that evening from Bernadette.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

 **Threat**

When Penny had heard through the gossip grapevine that Mr Sleazeballs ( Penny's nickname for him), long suffering Wife Andrea from number 11 had finally had enough and kicked him out, Penny felt elated. She had been, ever since he tried to make a pass at her by fondling her leg every time he changed gear, while giving Penny and her Daughters a lift to Cal-tech on the occasion of her car breaking down, quite keen to administer some discipline herself upon him. (preferably with her baseball bat). But as she had not felt it necessary to inform Leonard regarding Mr Sleazeballs advances, As the Lothario's attempts at seduction only served to produce a feeling of revulsion and anger, and as Penny thought to herself at the time, "The nerve of the guy?, how on earth can he possibly think that he could hold a candle to my Leonard anyway".

So revenge had finally been removed off the menu for Penny, with his subsequent eviction.

However two months later on a Saturday, as they were getting ready to take their girls to the beach for the day. Leonard was just at the task of strapping his girls in their seats, when Penny came to the door to ask if Leonard had packed the bag with the girls change of clothes, when she noticed Andrea openly ogling Leonard's tushy, As he was bent over to fasten the straps.

Penny's horror at seeing the look of absolute lust on the face of this woman towards Leonard, felt her mouth suddenly becoming dry and her stomach feeling as if it was tied up in knots as she began to panic, which then gave way to blind rage making her feel like running outside and wiping the sidewalk with this woman's face.

After a while though Penny was able to regain her self control, and began to wonder why she had had this extreme reaction at all. After all Leonard was utterly oblivious to the woman's lascivious behaviour, and so he was completely innocent. But despite this Penny still found herself being short tempered and snippy with her Husband, as they drove to the coast.

And once the family were settled on the beach, Leonard asked her if she was alright?. And on seeing the love and concern for her in her Husband's eyes, Penny immediately felt ashamed for taking her insecurities out on him.

"I'm so sorry Darling, I guess I was just out of sorts", she told him then she kissed him, an act for which Penny always found so soothing, and just by being in his arms she would at once feel at peace. And then she with Leonard concentrated on helping their girls to dig holes in the sand.

But over the next couple of days, Penny could not stop stressing over her feelings of violent rage, and feeling concerned too, that she might be relapsing, she rang Dr Julie Jeffers office only to be informed that Dr Jeffers was at a conference in Chicago and a Locum would be seeing her patients while Dr Jeffers was away.

Penny decided it might be better for her to see the Locum rather than wait for Julie and was stunned when she was given the familiar name and address of Dr Rachel Gallo.

On the Wednesday afternoon. Penny sat nervously in Dr Gallo's reception and waited to be called.

"Well Well, Mrs Hofstadter. Long time no see", Dr Gallo announced. Then added, "I hope you are not going to try and sell me something".

"Oh no!, No I quit that job some time ago. In fact I am doing interior design now", Penny told her quickly.

Dr Gallo at once relaxed and listened carefully while Penny related the events of Saturday.

"So you have three Daughters now, congratulations", Dr Gallo told her.

"What are they like?", she asked her.

And at once, positively beaming with pride, Penny told Dr Gallo all about Honey Marie, April and Angela, and even showed Dr Gallo some photographs of her girls.

"Well Penny, my conclusion on your extreme reaction that Saturday is solely because your family, and I have just seen this for myself, is the most precious thing of all to you and you saw this woman, not only a threat to your marriage, but she also represents a threat to your family too in your mind, By the way how is Dr Hofstadter?", Dr Gallo asked.

And again the big smile reappeared on Penny's face as she told Dr Gallo that Leonard was fine thank you.

"And Leonard, is he treating you well?", Dr Gallo asked her, in order to correctly ascertain how things were going in the Hofstadter household and to be sure that there were no underlying reasons for Penny's insecurity.

But again the huge smile reappeared as Penny told her, "Oh yes, yes indeed he certainly is", Penny informed the Doctor as she thought of how Leonard was helping out a lot more around the house and with the girls,in order to lighten Penny's load and to her embarrassment Penny found herself drifting into a daydream, as she fondly recalled the times her husband would often give her a wonderfully relaxing massage. Which often led to some quality loving time for the couple.

"Er Penny", Dr Gallo said to bring Penny's attention back to her. "I am afraid there is nothing you can do about this Andrea, in time she will meet someone else, I'm sure, after all, love will find a way you know. But I will give you something to take if you ever have another panic attack.

Penny though was a little disappointed with the diagnosis, and was heartily sick of taking tablets, and she decided upon the idea of perhaps herself finding Andrea her own man to ogle over, then the sooner Andrea can leave her Leonard alone the better. And also though she knew that Leonard loved Penny more than anything, she would certainly not be taking any chances of Leonard looking elsewhere but her, and Leonard was quite surprised to find that the frequency of his services in the bedroom towards Penny were suddenly greatly increased.

In the next couple of weeks Penny became almost obsessed in the task of finding Andrea a new man, but she soon discovered that it was much harder than she thought. The Mailman, nope too old. The Fed-ex man, Married. She did hold out hopes one day when she spotted Andrea talking to a guy who lived in an apartment a few doors down, only to find he had just got engaged. It would have been tempting to introduce her to Stuart if only he wasn't married as he was to Jeannie. Then she thought of Kripke, but even Penny balked at introducing him to Andrea. He was as bad as Andrea's ex partner, besides which Penny certainly did not want Kripke living on her doorstep so to speak.

Then for Penny things took a turn for the worse as when she was snuggled up with her husband while watching her favourite comedy 'Friends' on DVD when Leonard mentioned talking to Andrea just before he left for work that morning. _So! the bitch is lying in wait for my husband now is she,_ Penny thought to herself, and after that she would make sure her girls were OK then she would see Leonard off herself every morning with the most passionate hug and kiss in case Andrea was watching. but despite all her efforts. Penny began to despair of ever finding someone for Andrea, so she would leave her Leonard alone, "He's mine!, and I'll never give him up", she would think to herself in a silent challenge to Andrea.

Until...

Leonard had just collected his lunch and was making his way to his usual table when, "Leonard!, hi there. Can I introduce my Uncle Bill who is taking a six month sabbatical from NASA. And some fast talking from President Siebert and myself has secured him to give a couple of talks here while he visits me". Dr Stephen Jones informed Leonard.

"Hi welcome to Cal tech", Leonard said to Dr Bill Jones as he warmly shook both of the men's hands.

Stephen continued, "My uncle has for the past seven years been investigating the existence of type M planets by means of the Hubble telescope, as well as being involved with the space shuttle program", Stephen revealed.

"Wow that's so exciting, I'd love to hear more, hey I've an idea why don't you both come to dinner on Saturday and then perhaps we can have a real discussion on the subject", Leonard invited, then added to Dr Stephen Jones, "Oh and bring Alex too, and congratulations on your engagement.

And after Leonard had informed Penny of his invitation, Penny welcomed the distraction from her current problem at hand and turned her mind to think about the food for Saturday.

She was looking forward also to seeing Alex again as she found she really liked the girl once Alex had found out that Leonard was in a serious relationship with Penny and stopped her pursuit of him and now Alex too had met her soulmate in Stephen, so everything in the garden regarding Alex now was rosy as far as Penny was concerned.

The conversation during the dinner was mainly on the latest discoveries found in the study of the universe while Leonard and Stephen discussed the latest theories on dark matter.

Alex though noticing Penny's lack of input, then kindly asked if Penny would like a hand with the dishes. "Then we can have girl talk while we work", Alex told her. And they began to carry the plates and things to the kitchen leaving the men still in deep discussion over the latest Scientific and astronomic theories. before Alex helped Penny to get the girls washed and dressed ready for bed

"He's nice isn't he?, Bill I mean", Alex asked Penny, as she helped Honey Marie with her pajama top.

"Yes and those English accents?", Penny replied.

"Yeah I know, aren't they the best", Alex stated.

"I am a little surprised that Stephen's Uncle is not that much older than himself", Penny observed.

"Apparently there was quite an age gap between Stephen's Father and his Father's Brother", Alex explained.

"Oh I see", Penny replied, then added, "He just seems a little sad somehow", Penny observed to Alex.

"Well I think, as you know what with his years at Uni and working for NASA, I don't think he really had the time for relationships or family, and now I think seeing your lovely family tonight, kind of reminds him what he is missing from his life, It's such a shame don't you think. I mean, I Myself though I love being a Physicist I still want a Husband and a family and I have been so lucky to find Stephen, and now I can have both. Just like Leonard and yourself have". Alex explained.

"I know, it's so wonderful. I must confess when I started dating Leonard I was so scared of commitment

and though I knew deep down I was totally in love with Leonard, I just couldn't get past the fear of it all going wrong and suffering enormous heartache. But now I feel it's the best thing that I have ever done", Penny admitted.

Then later that night, as Penny lay in Leonard's arms her mind returned to her problem with Andrea and thought out how she could introduce Andrea to Bill, but alas with no solution coming to her she snuggled even closer to her husband and fell asleep.

Leonard woke up that morning and after donning his robe, went downstairs to make coffee for himself and Penny and as he waited for it to percolate he watched the morning news on TV, when the doorbell rang, and on opening the front door Leonard was surprised to find Bill standing there.

"Hi Leonard. I'm so sorry to disturb but I have like an absolute clot left my cellphone here last night, and just as Bill had finished speaking, Andrea had approached and asked Leonard if he could show her son Simon some pictures of the stars as her nine year old son was absolutely nuts about anything to do with space, and she would be so grateful if he could. When Bill himself piped up.

"Perhaps I can help, I myself am an Astrophysicist and Astronomer and I am currently working at NASA perhaps I can show your son some really special images we have recently taken of galaxies from the Hubble telescope", then Bill suddenly remembering his manners offered her his hand, "I'm sorry, how rude of me. My name is Bill Jones, how do you do.

"Andrea", Andrea replied, feeling awestruck at meeting a handsome Englishmen, and a highly educated one at that, "I just love that English accent", she gushed as she shook his hand.

 _'Yeah you all do' ,_ Leonard observed sourly to himself and Bill took his leave of Leonard after collecting his cellphone and went with Andrea to discuss a suitable time for him to see her son.

"Who was that at the door?", Penny asked as Leonard returned to her with the coffees.

And Penny's face took on a look of surprise at Bill's return for his phone then darkened severely as Leonard told her of Andrea's request for Leonard to talk to her son about space, before breaking out in a triumphant smile on learning that Bill had offered to go instead.

And as the months passed, things rapidly progressed between Bill and Andrea and Penny was over the Moon to be a guest at their wedding before Bill and Andrea moved to Houston to be near NASA headquarters. And as they said their vows Penny remembered Dr Gallo's words, " _Love will find a way"._ And how true those words turned out to be for Penny did not need to do anything at all.

And another bonus was that Penny now knew perfectly well just how Leonard had felt every time a hot guy had hit on her.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

 **Comedy**

One Saturday Morning, Penny had arranged Honey Marie's newly laundered bedroom curtains and stepped back with a sigh of satisfaction. "Well sweetie you will be glad to know your favourite Hello Kitty curtains are back up", Penny said to herself and at that moment the sound of Honey Marie's laughter could be heard outside in the garden below.

Penny smiled contentedly, as she watched Leonard pretending to chase their three Daughters around the Jacaranda tree in the center of their garden. And she giggled to herself as she remembered the hilarious events of yesterday Morning as Leonard, who had had the Friday off, demonstrated to his Daughters how Archimedes had discovered by chance how he could accurately weigh the King's crown, And as far as Penny understood it, it involved Archimedes taking a bath? And crying out Eureka!. But judging by the soaking wet appearance of her husband, his lesson was not a success with the girls. Well not to Leonard's point of view anyway, although the girls had great fun in splashing their father and everything else in the near vicinity of the plastic bath full of water, while crying out Eureka! each time they did so.

And it was a strange fact to Penny later, that although the girls loved getting wet and messy with a small bath of water in the garden. Their great reluctance and profuse complaints, at having to get in the large bath of warm water in the bathroom in order for Penny to get them cleaned up was quite a contrast.

Penny was just in the act of putting her stepladder away after completing her task with the curtains when her cellphone rang. "Hi", "Kay?", "No sweetie! I'm meeting you at the tile place this afternoon?", "That's right we agreed to meet there this Saturday afternoon?, Remember?", "Sweetie are you OK?, only you sound upset?", "No I haven't seen any papers yet?", "Are they?", "OK Sweetie hang on in there we're on our way". And Penny quickly called Kelly, "Kelly?, oh good, sorry to disrupt your day but would you mind driving over here in the pickup truck?, It's for Kay", "oh and bring some overalls would you please, OK, Thanks, I owe you one, see you in half an hour then".

Penny then went to talk to Leonard and informed him of her plan.

When the leading actress of Penny and Leonard's favourite comedy had rang to ask Penny to design and refurbish two guest bedrooms including the en suites and the entrance hall of Kay's house off of Reseda Blvd, Penny was all but turning handsprings in jubilation. And last Thursday afternoon Penny, with Sandra and Kelly had excitedly rushed over with her samples and laptop to meet Kay to determine Kay's likes and preferences.

Now half an hour later, and Kelly and Penny were on their way to the tile place in Santa Monica, both Puzzling as to the reason for Kay's distress and why the Paparazzi were camped out at the front of the tile store.

They entered the store where they found a very tearful and distressed Kay hiding in the Managers office. But Kay was too distressed for any explanations. So Penny quickly told her the plan for smuggling her out of the store, as Kelly took off her paint stained overalls, and handed them to Kay to put them on, along with an old Seattle Seahawks cap on her head and then they filled out the overalls with some toilet tissue, she then along with Kay, picked up a box of tiles each and they walked out of the store to the battered pickup truck, With only Penny drawing some suspicious glances from the lurking photographers, before they decided that she was not the famous actress. While Kelly waited in the store for a further twenty minutes before exiting the store and made her way over towards Kay's car, where by now the Paparazzi had realized that Kelly was not Kay, and that they had been duped and angrily tried to follow only to find themselves behind an MPV which slowly made it's way to the exit, only for the driver to stop at the exit, and get out of his car in order to comfort his little girl who seemed to be in quite some distress which held up the following Paparazzi, and by the time they had got past the MPV, Kelly had disappeared.

Penny had to pinch herself to make sure it was not a dream, for sitting on the sofa in Penny's very own lounge and drinking a coffee personally made by Penny was the famous Comedy star Kay. Penny then suddenly realizing she was star struck and had been unblinkingly staring at Kay with mouth agape, and in the process making Kay a little uncomfortable, so Penny forced herself to reach for the plate of Oreos on the coffee table and after offering one to Kay, Penny began to speak.

"Well why you're here how about we look at some rough sketches I've made of the en suite to bedroom 3", Penny asked as she reached for her laptop, " you will notice I think the wonderful modern design of the heated towel rail along with the the shower valves and head, and if you also note the modern etched design on the shower screen and door that it also compliments...",

"I'm sorry for wasting your time today but I really feel too stressed to be able to concentrate..., God I feel so, so stupid. Do you know? my Family warned me time and again something was going on with my now EX fiance and my PA, But I trusted him, hell I trusted her, and now in every damn tabloid in the world there is a picture of them leaving a seedy nightclub, he's drunkenly almost wearing her for crying out loud, then to top it all another picture of them both leaving a motel the next morning...",

then Kay collapsed into a storm of weeping. Suddenly she stopped and turning to Penny she continued speaking.

"I fixed them though. Yep, I collected every bit of his and also any crap of hers, then I got my gardener to dump it all on the bitches drive. And if that lying creep tries to enter my house, I've got a baseball bat to greet him with", Kay revealed determinedly.

"Well I would think that the humiliation of being publicly exposed would have been enough, but I am certain I would have done exactly the same as you", Penny admitted.

Penny reached for her cell and phoned Leonard, "Hi sweetie, Where are you, great! I'll see you in 15 minutes then, By the way did any of the slime ball's follow you to MacDonald's?, no?, good, are the girls OK?, Well well I guess Honey Marie is a better actress than me at turning on the tears, Give her a thank you kiss from me will you sweetie, Oh, and when you come home could you take Kay home?, OK sweetie, Thanks, I love you.", and as Penny ended the call Kay spoke up in some distress, "Oh please let me stay here, I just can't face going home, really I can't", She pleaded.

"Sure sweetie you're welcome to, but what about your dogs?", Penny reminded her.

"I'll call my Mom and get her to go round and stay", and at that Kay reached for her cell.

While Kay called her Mom, Penny rushed upstairs to tidy up the guest room while shaking her head in utter disbelief that she was going to have a famous actress to stay the night under her very roof.

"How did you do it Penny?, find the right guy I mean. You know, I couldn't fail to notice but you mentioned your family frequently in our meeting that Thursday. What's it like? Being a wife and mother?, how do you balance a career with caring for your husband and children?", Kay asked earnestly.

"Well It's not easy, but I have great support from Leonard and he makes it a little easier for me to cope, and I enjoy having his support in my career too, so I guess it's just teamwork really", Penny explained.

Just then Leonard returned with the girls and after giving his wife a hug and kiss was pleasantly surprised to learn that Kay would be staying the night.

"You look like my Dolly", Angela informed Kay as she waved her Barbie under Kay's nose.

But Kay appeared not to notice at first as she was struck by the look of absolute adoration on Leonard's face as he kissed and hugged his wife.

Kay in that moment realized to her great regret that not one of her past suitors had ever looked at her like that ever.

"Wow, I bet it was love at first sight for you and Leonard", Kay asked her later, as Leonard had left to get the girls clean pajamas.

"Well It certainly was for Leonard, but it was just a crush for me, or so I thought at the time which as most crushes do would quickly fade over time, but this one just kept growing stronger.

You see I had always envisioned that the man I would marry would be quite tall, athletic and handsome, and I just could not see Leonard fitting the bill, but over time I came to realize that I had such a strong yearning to be with him, I mean I dated other guys, guys that did fit my ideal, but none of them produced the excitement and attraction for me that I have always felt by just being in Leonard's company,

Then when I dated Leonard for a while then I foolishly ended it. By now my feelings for him were so strong I became so afraid that if I left it any longer, Leonard would be sure to dump me for a cute scientist like himself and the pain of my heartache would be too much to bear.

But then I found, I still could not be without him, I just could not stay away, ever. Then when I was invited on a spa weekend by my friend Amy, my other friend Bernadette had bumped into her old boyfriend while we were there, and man, he was the most tallest hunkiest piece of beefcake I had ever seen, but despite this Bernadette declared her deep love for her current boyfriend Howard Wolowitz a skinny Guy even shorter than Leonard, and then I realized from that moment on that it is who you love, and also the secure feeling that you positively know that they love you too, that was much more important to Bernadette than just mere appearances, and that's when I realized that Leonard loved me for who I was, sure when later a hot physicist did hit on him later, Leonard, though flattered by the attention, told her that he was very much in love with me. And now, well, here I am today, married to a guy who has become my wonderful soulmate

"You told me that your dream was to be an actress, do you ever regret giving that up", Kay asked Penny.

"Nope, honestly I have all I need or ever want here, besides", she giggled," at my last audition I stank up the place, and I have a little fame with producing the makeover program on T.V. So things are real good right now, really really good", Penny told her, with firm conviction.

And later that night, as Kay lay in her bed in the guest room, she meditated on Penny's explanation that love may not be so obvious at first, but true love will gradually grow over time. She also fixed firmly in her mind of the image, as though frozen in time, of the look of adoration on Leonard's face as he regarded his wife Penny.

And now at last Kay knew exactly the look a Guy's face should display when he truly has deep feelings for a girl, maybe even for Kay.

As one night stretched into two weeks, Kay learned much about the normal life of a family, it was certainly not perfect as the girls, as siblings were prone to do would often argue over toys or who had more cereal than the other and whose turn was it to have the free toy from the cereal packet and on these occasions Leonard and Penny would always display a united front in handling such disputes in a firm loving way, she also learned the importance of showing frequent affection between marriage mates and also for their offspring, how Penny and Leonard themselves had learned over time not to let their careers interfere with their relationship with each other and also their family, no not everything was perfect but a family bound together with love it seemed, would always overcome or endure such difficulties.

After Penny and her team had finished the makeover on Kay's home, Penny never expected to hear from Kay again, but she was wrong. Just a month before they were due to start recording the latest series of Kay's comedy, Kay rang Penny.

"Hi, Penny?, look, please just think about it first, the writers have decided to introduce my character's sister and her husband into the series, now then it will not be every week, but as you and I look alike, I thought you would be perfect for the part, and I wonder if you would like the opportunity to act again?".

Penny thought for a moment, the chance to act in her favourite comedy and with Kay would be a wonderful opportunity . Then after telling Kay, that Penny was very interested indeed though she would have to talk it over with Leonard first, and Kay was not at all surprised at Penny's wish to consult her husband. Penny promised to let Kay know tomorrow.

Leonard though was as excited as Penny at her appearing on the show and insisted firmly that she must take a shot at the part. As after all Leonard knew if she turned it down then Penny would be bound to regret the missed opportunity later in life.

So three days later found Penny auditioning once again for a part, and although a little rusty, Penny still showed great ability in comic timing, and delivering a line in such a way as to enhance the humour of the situation.

In the first episode of the series. The Character Penny was playing, (whose name was Beth in the script), had a little drinking problem, And just to complicate matters Beth had a rather strict and very rich Methodist Mother who had decided to come on a surprise visit. so the hilarious scene with Beth trying to get a drink without her Mother seeing, while Kay's character, (Sarah), and Beth's husband (Played by the equally famous actor J.G.) were frantically trying to, A) to stop Beth drinking and B) to try to find all Beth's hiding places for drink and all of this, while under the nose of Sarah and Beth's mother without their Mother getting any knowledge of what was going on and cutting Beth and Sarah out of her will.

The producer was so pleased with Penny's efforts and despite her being out of acting for so long, offered her the part. In fact the writers had even added an extra comic scene with Sarah guiding an inebriated Beth upstairs to her bedroom while trying desperately to avoid their Mother who kept going to and fro from guest room to bathroom and back again.

And when Penny came home and broke the news of her being offered the part, Penny and Leonard delightedly celebrated together with a movie and a meal before enjoying some very important together time in their bedroom later.

Penny became a popular member of the cast with the audience and her appearances in the comedy series gradually increased, though Penny was very careful that it should not encroach on her precious time with her husband and children, after all as she would relate in an interview later, her precious family was what enabled her to keep her feet on the ground and also enabled her to keep on an even keel.

A few weeks later, while Kay was acting a scene with another actor, Penny, who was quietly watching the scene with J.G. Happened to glance up at him and immediately felt a shiver, for J.G. Seemed to be absolutely captivated by the sight of Kay, and Penny was very much reminded of Leonard, in the way he would look at Penny, hence the shiver.

Penny zoned out and began thinking. She was so very very happy with her life right now with Leonard, and like Kay, Penny too had had a string of failed relationships before Leonard, and she knew enough about Kay by now that she was very unhappy indeed, so much so that it was almost affecting her performances in the comedy.

So later on Penny quietly tried to move things along by seeing if Kay might be interested in J.G.

"You know, I think we have a great cast here", Penny observed to Kay in a break between scenes.

"Yes, you're right", Kay agreed, although without much enthusiasm.

"And don't you think that J.G.'s kinda cute", Penny asked her.

"Hey!, you're a married woman", Kay chided.

But at the mention of J.G, Penny noticed Kay's eyes widen.

"Of course, and very happily, and I would never ever, do anything to hurt Leonard, but I was thinking more upon the lines of maybe cute for you?", Penny explained.

Kay's face took on a glimmer of hope before sliding back into the sombre look she usually wore lately.

"I can't, it's too soon", Then the truth came out, "What if he rejects me? , like my last guy, I just couldn't cope with that", Kay revealed plaintively.

Penny placed an arm around Kay's shoulders. "Oh sweetie", she said sympathetically, "You won't know till you try?", "Tell me? how would you feel if you didn't take the chance and J.G. Found someone else?", Penny asked her, somehow reminded of when Amy asked her the same question years ago.

Kay jerked her head up to look at Penny, the look on her face stricken at the thought.

But alas, "I'm sorry I just couldn't, it just hurts too much", Kay told her, her tears beginning to fall.

Penny decided to let Kay be for now, perhaps if she could speak to J.G.?

But J.G. Incredibly was even worse than Leonard, which fact Penny could hardly believe. And at the tragic sight of two people both yearning for each other, but at the same time, so afraid of taking the needed step, Penny then became quite determined to move things along herself, but how?

About halfway into the series Penny was rehearsing some lines quietly with J.G. That involved a tender moment of pathos, (as was often used in all the great comedies), between Beth and Lincoln, (J.G's character), when Beth had finally and tearfully admitted her drink problem and begged Lincoln to never give up on her after which the two characters would share a passionate kiss, when Kay knocked and entered.

Penny in a blinding flash of inspiration, asked Kay for help on how Penny should play this particular scene?.

Kay gave Penny some ideas.

"I'm sorry I don't quite understand what you mean?", Penny told Kay with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"Here, I'll demonstrate", Kay told Penny as she placed her arms around J.G's neck and kissed him. Not without Penny noticing that the kiss lasted a heck of a lot longer than the scene demanded, and as Kay and J.G. Broke apart, Kay saw the same look of adoration for Kay on J.G's face that Leonard's face had shown for Penny.

'Finally, at last' Penny thought to herself resisting the temptation to applaud them both and squeal her delight.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

 **Late**

Leonard woke at the sound of the alarm clock radio, and immediately roused Penny.

"Leonard please, it's too early, I'm still tired Honey", Penny told him, as she turned and pulled the covers back over her head.

"Sorry Penny It's time for us all to get up and get ready", Leonard insisted.

"Oh my God, I forgot, the wedding!, you wake the girls and I'll start breakfast", Penny ordered as she reluctantly threw back the covers and hurriedly reached for her robe.

Leonard after donning his own robe went to wake his Daughters, and not surprisingly discovered that his Daughters, like their mother, firmly believed that 08:00 O'clock was in the middle of the night. And it was after much complaining by the girls that Leonard was able to get them to go and wash at all.

Penny meanwhile had got the girls cereal ready, and was currently engaged in cooking some french toast for herself and Leonard, while Leonard had a wash himself in their en suite.

Soon the girls washed and dressed entered the kitchen and began eating their breakfast, and Angela in attempting to get the last corn-flake from her bowl, tipped it towards herself a little too far and succeeded in spilling milk all down the front of her dress without Penny's notice, that is until the moment Angela stood up to put her shoes on.

"Angela!, what on earth have you done to your dress?", Penny demanded of her daughter.

"Honestly sweetie, Come on, come upstairs with me and change into your other one", Penny instructed as she hurried her daughter upstairs.

Meanwhile as Leonard was putting on his new shirt, only to discover there were two buttons missing, and at once had the bright idea of taking it to Penny for her to sew a couple back on.

Penny though had a different solution and while Angela donned a clean dress, Penny collected needle, thread and buttons and handed them to Leonard, with an "OH!" in response from Leonard.

Penny returned to Angela only to see that the dress she had put on was covered in creases, and at Angela's explanation that it had fallen off the hanger, Penny pointed out that in future would it not trouble Angela too much to hang it back up rather than shove all her toys on top of it?.

So after getting the dress back off of Angela, Penny found herself rushing downstairs for the iron.

Meanwhile Honey Marie who had had the honour to be chosen to be a bridesmaid, had got ready and went to her Mother (who was at that moment impatiently waiting for the iron to reach the correct temperature, so Penny could iron Angela's dress), for her inspection and approval. And at the lovely sight of her nearly five year old daughter, Penny felt her tears start.

"Mom don't, I feel like a right dork", Honey Marie declared, in disgust at her Mothers abject failure to control her emotions.

"Doesn't she look just like an angel, Leonard?", Penny asked, totally ignoring Honey Marie's discomfort.

"Mom please!", Honey Marie chided as she witnessed her Mother shedding even more tears.

And in a flash of inspiration, Penny grabbed her camera while at the same time totally ignoring Leonard who was pointing at his watch, and ushered Honey Marie out into the garden for her Daughter to stand in front of the Jacaranda tree for a treasured photograph, Before returning and Ironing the dress.

Then while Leonard and the girls were ready and waiting downstairs, it was now time to wait for Penny to get ready.

Penny meanwhile in her haste to put on her new tights had put her fingernail straight through them and summoned Leonard to obtain a new pair after repeating the particular make and shade several times to Leonard, while thinking to herself how strange it was that Leonard could remember numerous formula for mathematical functions while being totally unable to remember a particular shade of hosiery, and wisely she decided she had better write the information down for him.

Leonard soon returned with the tights and was not surprised to find that Penny had not yet dressed and was still indeed engaged in applying her make up, and by the time Penny was ready they were nearly 25 minutes late, finally, to Penny's relief they were all in the car and on their way, when Penny remembering the card and the wedding present and asked Leonard, "Did you remember to pick their present up as I told you to earlier?", she demanded.

Leonard though could only sheepishly look back at her in a look of apology.

"Leonard!, I did ask you?", Penny told him in exasperation, before demanding that they will have to turn round and get it.

Leonard turned round and almost as soon as the car had reached their drive, Penny was out and in the house and retrieving the present while also turning the iron off, and feeling grateful that Leonard had not witnessed her own forgetfulness, she locked the door and soon they were on their way again.

But it was with some dismay for Penny to see that they were three quarters of an hour late for the wedding, and Penny after the stress of preparation could not help but be visibly upset, she had been longing to see Honey Marie walking down the aisle behind the bride and her tears began to flow in her dismay, Leonard though was smiling, "It's OK Honey, we are not late, in fact we're early. You see I set the alarm an hour earlier than you said just in case", Leonard explained.

And Penny was so relieved at his confession, she kissed her Husband on the cheek and lovingly squeezed his arm in gratitude, "Thank you sweetie, I do love you", she said, instantly relieved.

It was just as well that they arrived at the wedding venue in good time for security was tight and Penny was startled by the paparazzi as a barrage of camera's began taking pictures of Penny herself.

"Now you know, you're a star at last", Leonard told her. And after entering away from the camera's Penny turned to her husband and said, "you will always be my favourite fan though Honey", she told him before kissing him. And Leonard's reply to Penny, made her tear up as he told her, "I will always be your number 1 fan forever".

They showed their invites to security and after Honey Marie had been hustled off to join the other bridesmaids, and as the rest of the Hofstadter family began to enter a pew towards the back when an usher hurried over to them and escorted them to a pew on the brides side immediately behind her family members.

With all the celebrities, directors, and producers in attendance there was no more an honoured guest than Penny, for Kay would be forever extremely grateful at Penny's immense kindness at getting Kay and J.G. Together, with their wedding today being the result.

And Penny could not help her tears begin to flow as she observed Kay walking down the aisle towards her groom, as her eyes shone with ultimate happiness. And J.G. too his face displaying the look of adoration as he watched his beautiful bride approach, and Penny was stunned at how much J.G. Resembled Leonard in the fact that J.g. also, could not help the tears as he looked at his bride.

Then Penny quickly recovered her composure to discreetly take some pictures of the bride and her bridesmaids as they walked down the aisle.

(and to Honey Marie's disgust these pictures and the official photographs, would later be shown to every relative and friend of Leonard's and Penny's)

Penny reached vainly for a handkerchief to wipe her eyes when Leonard offered her the little pack of tissues he had purchased earlier along with the tights. "Penny took out a tissue and smiling to the love of her life, she repeated the words she had uttered while in his laboratory years ago, "Sometimes I forget how smart you are".

Later while at the reception, Penny had to take firm steps with a dashing young actor who was coming on too strong and accidentally on purpose tipped her drink down the front of his suit and although she appeared to be apologetic to everyone around her, she angrily hissed under her breath, "you just could not come anywhere near to give me the pleasure my husband gives me so you can back off pal", and the dashing young actor was afterwards seen dashing away from the venue in humiliation. Though Penny did enjoy the warm and loving hugs from Kay and her new husband J.G. later.

Afterwards through her abject fear of causing her Leonard hurt, Penny made sure her beloved Husband was constantly by her side, then as Kay Insisted that everyone must meet her dear friend Penny, and Leonard was almost overwhelmed at meeting so many Celebrities.

"Thank you so much for everything", Kay gratefully and almost tearfully thanked Penny. While Penny imparted a firm warning to J.G. To always cherish my dear friend all her days, and Penny heartened to see the look wonder on J.G.'s face as he told her, "That I certainly will do, Kay's the most wonderful person that I have ever met in my life". And after waving goodbye to the bride and groom as they left for their honeymoon in the Bahamas, it was time to leave and carrying a sleeping twin each and guiding a very tired little bridesmaid, it was time to make for home, when Kay's Mother stopped them and informed them that Kay had booked them a suite in an hotel to save them traveling back so late.

Penny jumped at the opportunity and a car chauffeured them to one of the top hotel's, while their own car would be kept safe until they returned the next morning.

Penny gazed around in wonder for the suite was huge and after the girls were settled in their beds Penny returned to find a bottle of champagne sitting in it's ice bucket on a table on which sat a small present, Penny opened the present in some surprise at this latest development and on opening it out fell some keys and also a note, which read,

 _To my dear friend Penny, you have given me the chance_

 _to enjoy the same lifetime of happiness that you enjoy in your marriage._

 _Such a gift is, I consider absolutely priceless and I find I cannot thank you enough._

 _The keys are to my beach house in Malibu, and I would very much be pleased_

 _if you would Stay there for three weeks or so, with your (as you often tell me)_

 _Your wonderful Husband and your beautiful Daughters._

 _With so much gratitude your devoted friend_

 _Kay._

"Leonard", "I can't believe it", Penny barely whispered, as she hugged him tightly.

"Well Honey, looks like we have ourselves three weeks of sun and sand in a luxury beach house", he told her, then in spite of their tiredness they made full use of the champagne and the Jacuzzi, before Leonard reminded Penny of the enormous pleasure that Penny receives just from making love with the wonderful husband she adores so much.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

 **Malibu**

When Leonard had returned that Friday lunchtime from Cal-Tech, because he had to move some of his equipment into the store room, for a couple of hours or so that Morning. And after his exertions with the heavy loads that morning, He was really looking forward to a nice relaxing break, and even more so to spending a whole three weeks with his beloved Wife and Daughters.

However on arriving at his house and entering the lounge, Leonard felt more than a little deflated to see that Penny had piled their luggage in the lounge, and from the sight of the pile, it seemed, from Leonard's point of view, that Penny had every intention to stay for three months rather than three weeks.

Leonard began to open his mouth in protest, then quickly decided to say nothing as he noted the stern ' _leave it alone'_ look from Penny, and after a cup of coffee and a sandwich, Leonard sighed and began to load the luggage into the car. He was just about halfway through the pile, when a very excited, ' Today's the Day, We're going on holiday', Penny gave him such a passionate kiss that Leonard dropped the case he was holding and then hopped around in agony as the thing had landed heavily on his big toe, and Leonard was then wishing he had not changed his safety shoes for sandals before tackling the luggage pile and thereafter an 'I'm so sorry sweetie', Penny had to help him load the rest.

The nearly 50 mile drive to Malibu was, thankfully for Leonard, without incident. And on arriving the Hofstadter's, by now feeling hungry decided to head for Geoffrey's first for a meal and as they entered, there suddenly came from inside the restaurant the sound of a squeal of delight, "Oh my God, I don't believe it".

And at once Penny drew herself up with pride, and thinking that she had been recognized, when the Woman's voice continued, "Dr Leonard Hofstadter, Wow, I read your latest paper on achieving maximum energy from blue photons without generating heat by using Graphene instead of gold, Dr Hofstadter you are an absolute genius, please, I beg you, join us, I'm so eager to hear more", the Woman pleaded, and Penny feeling as though the rug had been pulled from underneath her, and was really not liking this sudden turn of events at all. And then was even more depressed to discover when she turned to look at the woman that it was was none other than the famous actress, _Anne Hathaway_ herself.

All through dinner Anne and Leonard had talked excitedly about his latest paper, while leaving Penny feeling utterly ignored and frustrated at feeling totally unable to contribute to their conversation at all, lest she said something wrong and have them laugh at her, as well as feeling very angry that Leonard had not even mentioned to her that he had submitted a paper at all, in the first place. And to put the cherry on the cake, Penny was left to see to her Daughters herself.

"Well, you see using gold would be no good at all, as it would make the solar panel hugely expensive, so I thought that by using Graphene, which as you know is even better than gold at conducting electricity, an excellent conductor of heat, and is much stronger than gold. I could...", Leonard explained, while Anne sat enthralled and gazed at Leonard in hero worship.

The contrast of the look between Leonard's face and Penny's as they left the restaurant was a sight to behold.

Leonard had a huge smile on his face as he floated out the door on a high, while the look on Penny's face was as black as a thundercloud.

"Well! I hope you really enjoyed yourself in there Hofstadter", Penny hissed angrily at Leonard.

"Yeah, It was so great, and she is so knowledgeable about Physics", Leonard replied, still on cloud nine and totally oblivious to the sheer rage in Penny's voice.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, while you took April to the toilet, She invited us to dinner Sunday, Isn't that so sweet of her", Leonard informed Penny, with a huge smile plastered on his face.

At that news, coupled with the look on Leonard's face. Penny finally exploded, " **OH, She did, did She?. Are you sure she meant us or just YOU!?, Well Hofstadter, if you think I'm going to sit there while you and her sit nose to nose and just talk about physics all night while ignoring me and the girls, then you are very much mistaken".**

Then at that point, Penny, unable to bear it any longer rushed off and left Leonard with the girls.

Leonard by now had realized he had royally screwed up again, leaving himself feeling very distressed that he had upset Penny.

After a while, Penny tearfully made her way to the beach and walked along the shore, while occasionally giving dark looks to dissuade any guy from trying to join her, and asking what was up?.

Penny felt utterly inadequate and once again her insecurities were brought to the fore, 'Does Leonard really want to be with me?', she asked herself, He had seemed so incredibly happy talking to Anne about physics that Penny could not help wondering. More tears ran down her cheeks as she recalled the number of times she had tried and failed to understand Leonard's work. She was his wife, surely she should show more interest in Leonard's career?. Two hours later, as She spied a young man chasing a giggling young girl into the sea. And Penny was immediately reminded of the day she had first visited Manhattan beach with Leonard, who had also chased her into the sea and when she had laughingly told him, "alright, I give up, the throwing her arms around him, and kissing him when she became aware of powerful emotions, which increased her craving for him, when the next thing she knew, they were making passionate love in the sea.

It was shortly after they had got back together and laying alongside Leonard on the beach, Penny meditated on how so incredibly wonderful it had been with Leonard and wondered exactly what it all meant before realizing a little later, to her utter amazement, that it could only be complete and utter love, the like of which she had never ever felt before, and that day Penny realized, that Leonard would forever be the only Man for Her.

And after that cherished memory, Penny realized

1) She really needed to think things through, as well as have a long talk with Leonard.

And 2) She still had the keys to Kay's beach house in her purse, and at the thought of her girls, the urgency to find Leonard and her Daughters, was now paramount.

Leonard was still sitting in the MPV in the restaurant lot, and was by now quite anxious as to where Penny had got to and also his girls who were already distressed over the argument between their Mom and Dad, and were also by now very worried over where their Mom had gone too?, particularly April, who had become so stressed she began to cry.

Leonard retrieved his distressed Daughter from the car and was trying vainly to comfort her, but April just kept crying for her Mother, while all the while conscious of the curious stares from some of the restaurant patrons, when Penny tapped him on the shoulder from behind, and said,"Come on, let's find this beach house", as she took April from him. And worryingly for Leonard, in a strange neutral tone of voice.

They drove the short distance to the beach house and on arriving, Leonard tried to apologize, but Penny cut him short, "Just unload the car, please", Penny ordered as she carried a very clingy April into the house.

After Leonard had unloaded the car, Penny still refused to talk and ordered Leonard to keep an eye on Honey Marie and Angela, on the beach, while Penny sat in the armchair, and comforted April, who had by now stopped her tears and snuggled down against her Mom.

Later that night Penny lay unable to sleep at all and struggled to understand just why Leonard had failed to tell her about his paper.

She had always informed Leonard of every development in her career, both in interior design and as an actress, and compering the makeover show, and Penny still felt very hurt indeed at Leonard's total lack of regard towards her.

She sighed and just listened for a while to Leonard's breathing. Nothing at all had changed for her in her feelings for him. She still loved him very much indeed, 'But I want to be more involved in his life, especially his career, I want to be able to understand his work, he's so passionate about physics and I want to experience that passion with him. Is that so wrong?, after all's said and done, we are a team, aren't we?', she said softly to herself.

And unable to come up with a solution Penny turned with her back to Leonard and softly cried herself to sleep.

Saturday things were still much the same, Penny and Leonard were barely talking to each other while at the same time Penny was dreading the dinner at Anne Hathaway's place. Thus therefore was the situation in which the girls felt even more acutely the awful atmosphere, and instead of happily playing in the sand as they usually did. They listlessly drew patterns in the sand, as they wondered what on earth was going to happen next. Penny lay in her recliner and caught up on the sleep she lost last night, while Leonard sat and watched the girls.

Sunday evening arrived and Penny, with a set expression on her face, kept her silence throughout as they walked the short journey to Anne's house, while Leonard did exactly the same, being too fearful of saying the wrong thing and driving Penny away again.

Leonard rang the bell and Anne herself excitedly came to the door and invited them in.

Anne introduced her son Jonathan to the girls, but only Honey Marie was interested in playing together with him.

April, as soon as Penny had sat down, climbed into her Mother's lap, while Angela clung tightly to Leonard,

Anne initially tried to engage Penny in conversation, but Penny's replies were monosyllabic at best, and after a while Anne gave up, wondering what was going on between Leonard and Penny, then, to her obvious relief her Husband Adam emerged from the kitchen and after he was introduced by Anne, he asked the couple which wine they would prefer to drink, Penny decided on the Moselle, and Adam poured them all a glass each. Then inevitably Leonard and Anne began talking about Physics, while Adam immediately noticing Penny's acute discomfort asked if she would like to see some of his latest jewelry designs. And though normally enthusiastic over any pieces of jewelry, Penny, still carrying April rose, and disinterestedly followed him over to his desk on which some samples of pendants and bracelets were laid out.

Adam began explaining the different designs but when he looked up at Penny, Penny was sadly looking in the other direction at Leonard, and Anne.

"Are you OK?", Adam asked her.

Penny sighed and moved April up a little, "Yeah, I guess", she replied, feeling left out.

"Doesn't that bother you?", Penny finally asked, then added "they seem so excited talking together, that I, well I".

"Feel isolated?", Adam offered.

"Yes, that's it isolated, I just so want to share his passion, and I find it hard that he doesn't seem interested in including me", Penny confessed, her tears already beginning to appear.

"Have you tried getting Leonard to explain them to you?", Adam asked her.

Penny nodded.

"Well like yourself, I wanted to know everything my wife was interested in, after all everyone wants to get closer to the one they love, don't they, but like you I had very little understanding of sub atomic particles, neutrons, electrons, Higgs Bosons and they just made my head spin, so I got Anne to explain it all to me a little piece at a time then as I learned each little piece by heart, I put them all together until I get the complete picture, sure it is a little slow but then it enables me to share Anne's interest and I feel much closer to her, as a result", Adam explained.

Penny's eyes opened wide in hope as this simple solution struck her, after all hadn't she learned much about the stars from Leonard as he would explain one constellation at a time, she knew that the star Rigel was in the constellation of Orion, (when one night the DVD choice was Leonard's, and they watched the movie 'Stargate' together, She knew the Pleiades, or seven sisters were in the constellation of Taurus, she knew how to find the pole star, and that the Horse head nebula was a giant cloud of dust and gas, That works, and for the first time since before the restaurant, Penny smiled.

"I see you like that idea, and don't worry I've been watching them, the only love between my Wife and your Husband is the love of Physics", Adam told her, smiling.

And Penny turned to look at Leonard and smiled, "I know", she said, feeling elated that she had learned an answer to her problem.

Though Leonard was still greatly at fault for his failure to reveal to her about his paper, Penny decided, she did not want her husband to learn anything else to please her as he had with the massage tuition. No Penny wanted her husband with her, not away from her. Nope, he can take me out for a romantic movie and a meal instead, and after that the dinner was a much happier affair for Penny, who was even more thrilled when Adam gave her a Pendant from his newest range, just to cheer her up.

And once they were back at Kay's beach house Penny had a long talk with Leonard, and ordered him to never ever fail to share anything about his career again, and also informed him they would be having a date night tomorrow, as Anne had kindly given Penny the number of a local babysitter, and snuggling up to Leonard she as she imagined their date tomorrow evening, fell fast asleep, leaving Leonard to impress upon himself how much it had pained him knowing he had hurt the love of his life, then he fervently prayed that he may never hurt Penny again.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

 **The Letter.**

Penny reluctantly relinquished her comfortable position snuggled closely against her husband, as they sunbathed together, and went inside to get them all a drink, fruit juice for the girls and beer for Leonard and herself. In spite of the little hiccup at the start of their holiday, due to Penny's insecurities. Things were really going great now, the girls if they were not chasing each other were taking turns to bury each other in the sand, or they would be playing in the small pool on the back of the beach house. And all now were thoroughly enjoying their holiday. Though Penny still felt guilty at her overreaction at the restaurant, though Penny guessed it stemmed back to her mental breakdown she had when she thought she had lost Leonard due to his car crash. And now it seemed that Penny's need for her husband seemed to be greater than most married couples, and she had never told Leonard but when he wasn't with her, it would always feel as if something important was missing and Penny just felt uncomfortable without him. Often she would struggle to cope with everyday life, and absolutely hated it when Leonard had to work long hours, or that time when he was working during the night, Man!, that was really tough on her, and if it wasn't for her Daughters asleep in their beds, Penny would have gone to him quite easily, 'Nope, I just can't help it. I have such a craving for my Leonard', she admitted to herself.

She got the girls drinks and the two beers and was just returning to the beach when to her utter astonishment there came the familiar sound of, "knock knock knock Leonard, knock knock knock Leonard, knock knock knock Leonard", she grabbed her robe and tied around her and opened the door.

"Sheldon!, how did you find out where we were?", Penny asked him, but was totally ignored by Sheldon. "Where's Leonard?", Sheldon asked her.

"He's out there on the beach", Penny replied.

"The Beach?", Sheldon asked her incredulously, then continued, "Is he mad," then to himself, "Oh Leonard you just do not merit this high honour at all".

"What high honour, ", Penny asked him.

"He's been offered the Chair of physics at Cambridge University," Sheldon explained.

"What on earth do we want with a chair?," Penny puzzled.

"Really it's no wonder you could only get a job waiting on tables, and even then you couldn't do that job properly," Sheldon told her condescendingly.

"Hey!", Penny told him feeling quite insulted.

"Though I think they have made a serious mistake, it was obviously meant for me, but they simply got the wrong name. Now then if you could manage to fetch Leonard so he can let them know their error then I can make my travel plans for England, as if they would really offer it to Leonard in the first place" Sheldon demanded, then chuckled at their mistake of offering it to his former room mate.

"What's this all about Sheldon?", Leonard asked him, feeling annoyed that Sheldon Cooper could not even let him have a holiday in peace".

"Well yesterday you received a letter offering you the Chair of Physics at Cambridge University, except it should have been me, as they have clearly got the name totally wrong, so if you would kindly let them know their mistake then the sooner I can make plans to leave for England, I mean your I.Q. Is so much lower than my own so it is so obvious that it should have been me shouldn't it," Sheldon told him fully expecting Leonard to heartily agree.

"Sheldon!, it has my address on it, how did you get this letter?", Leonard demanded of him.

But the answer came from Penny, "I had asked Amy to check on our house while we were away".

"That's right, I accompanied Amy to your house and spied this letter in your mailbox, so I can only assume they thought I had moved there too", Sheldon explained.

"Is Amy with you?,", Penny asked.

"No, She was busy with something or other, probably not important", Sheldon replied. Then added, "So Leonard if you think you could ring about 03:00 AM here, then it will be 11:00 AM in England there and explain their silly mistake, Then I can start making my travel plans and allow for any contingencies."

"Supposing it is me they are offering the chair too?", Leonard asked him, starting to feel more than a little annoyed at Sheldon's arrogance.

"Why Leonard?," then turning to Penny, "He's such a card isn't he, it so makes up for his deficiency in the brain department doesn't it?", he asked her, firmly believing that Leonard was making a joke.

"The only joke that's here is you," Leonard, told him, by now losing his grip on his temper. "Tell me, When did I tell you what my I.Q. Was?", Leonard asked Sheldon.

"it was on the day I interviewed you as a possible tenant", Sheldon answered.

"yeah, I did because I quickly realized what a nut job you were, and if I gave you the true figure I knew you couldn't handle the fact that I am smarter than you, so I lied,", Then turning to Penny, "It was the only room I'd seen that I could afford at the time, so I was pretty desperate,", he explained.

"you wouldn't!", Sheldon yelled.

"I most certainly did Sheldon, I lied. In fact My I.Q. Is actually 198, So Buddy FYI there is no mistake, now then, perhaps you'll be so kind as to closing the door on your way out, and I will send a copy of my Mensa certificate, and by all means, feel free to hack whatever you like to check it out".

Sheldon's face had then turned white with rage and without further ado he threw the letter at Leonard, then turned on his heel and left".

"Why are they sending you a chair though," Penny puzzled.

"It's not a literal chair Penny, No, they are in fact offering me a position as tenured professor to head their Physics department," Leonard explained.

"OH!,", Penny exclaimed, feeling a little foolish.

"How did he know where Kay's beach house was?", she asked Leonard, quickly changing the subject.

"Oh I should think he probably hacked the governments computers to find the address of Kay's beach house. And you know Sheldon, he would have had no qualms whatsoever in going through all of Kay's personal documentation online in the interests of advancing science", Leonard guessed, then bent to pick up the letter.

"Can I see it", Penny asked Leonard.

Leonard handed Penny the letter and she began to read.

"Wow, Leonard this is such a big deal isn't it," she correctly assumed.

Yeah, Pretty much, they are one of the top Universities in the world after all, as well as one of the oldest", Leonard explained then grabbing the drinks, he headed back to check on his Daughters.

Penny read the letter again, 'Wow!, A top university is offering Leonard a position to head their Physics department, Anne Hathaway squeals her delight at seeing him, and then hangs on his every word. 'My God, I've been listening to Sheldon Cooper for too long, My husband is an absolute rock star in the world of Physics, and It has never really occurred to me, Wow!,', she repeated.

And then her quandary began, she really wanted to support her Leonard to the hilt in his career , but moving to England?, the girls are settled and doing very well in school, I might be able to do interior design in England I guess, but I'll have to give up the comedy series," Then Penny thought of her house, and that she would be leaving her lovely home, her tears began to fall, "I won't be able to see the Jacaranda tree mature", and then Penny fled, threw herself on the bed and wept in broken hearted anguish.

"Hey, Hey?, why all the tears?", Leonard asked her, as he had returned to see where Penny had got to and heard her crying, then he added, "You know full well what an arrogant jerk Sheldon can be at times, It shouldn't upset you now?", He told her, completely misinterpreting the reason for her distress.

Penny hurled herself into his arms, "It's not Sheldon, It's just that I so want to support you in your career, really I do, but I don't know if I could let our house go", She sniffed.

"Penny I've got no intention of taking them up on their offer, we are not moving to England", Leonard told her, "besides I love our house too", he added.

"But what about your career?", Penny asked, though not without Leonard's notice that a sudden hope had appeared in her eyes.

"Penny, though my career is very important to me yes, but my family will always have the utmost priority in any decision I make. And I can't see how living in England will be advantageous to us at all", then added, "I'm sorry, I should have told you that a long time ago", Leonard told her.

"You did sweetie, just before your accident, I guess you don't remember it", Penny told him sadly, as she saw the vivid image of her Leonard wired up to drips and sensors through the windows of the doors of the ICU, and shuddered at the awful memory.

They returned to join their Daughters, and a much happier Penny snuggled back down against her husband and kissed him.

"I just thought, it seems that I'm not the only one who overthinks things am I?", Leonard told her.

"No sweetie, but I bet I caught it from you though", She replied.

After an hour laying in the sun the family went back to 'Geoffrey's' for some lunch.

And as they were eating, a sudden thought hit Penny.

"Do you think Sheldon will be telling everyone about the injustice that's been visited upon him?, Penny asked Leonard.

"Yep, I can Guarantee it, Oh wow!, am I glad I'm here on vacation," Leonard confessed, then added, "I'd better ring them and tell them I will not be taking them up on their offer, as who knows what turmoil it might send Dr Gablehauser to" Leonard said, half to himself.

Penny did not answer at first. For she had that faraway look in her eyes as though she was planning something.

Then after five minutes, "Hang on sweetie, let's not be hasty now, what do you think might happen if you let them think that you were giving it serious consideration?".

"Well, I guess they might offer me more mon..., hey!, now that's sneaky", Leonard said realizing her plan.

"No Leonard it is not, didn't you tell me once at that last fundraising event, how more people than ever had signed up to give financial support to the university as they were so impressed with that cute Hofstadter family and did you not also tell me that the prestige you earned by being selected to go on Stephen Hawking's venture to find Unruh radiation? Which also drew in quite a bit of money for the University. And I may add resulting in me having to suffer greatly for three months without you", Penny reminded him, the tears already springing to her eyes at the memory of the awful three months of loneliness without Leonard.

For Penny though the money was not important, as they were quite comfortably off without needing more, No, she wanted them to appreciate her, as Anne called him, her genius husband, and give him the respect for his work he deserves. Respect that Penny was also working hard to acquire, as Leonard, after Penny's upset in the restaurant had been receiving some lessons in physics from Leonard, as they would lay on the beach and Leonard would draw diagrams in the sand, to help her understand the basics. And that was another thing with Leonard the wonderful patient way he would teach, and also in a manner that made it easy for Penny to understand, 'My God my man is so absolutely wonderful, but then again I am rather biased after all' Penny giggled as she meditated on Leonard's qualities, "And best of all, He loves me", she thought to herself, as a huge smile appeared on her face as she looked at her husband.

Leonard doubted that Penny's idea would work . But the next Monday afternoon, Leonard's cell rang as the family had a pleasant stroll together along the shoreline, "Dr Gablehauser, yes sir I received a letter from them last week, well I don't know sir, you see Penny's spent the last day or two looking at houses for sale in England on the net?," Leonard told him, delivering the line Penny had taught him to say the other day.

"How much?, well that's a very generous offer Sir, I'll have to think about it, though Penny will be disappointed,", Leonard told him as Penny acted out a mime to Leonard of herself crying. "OK sir that's very kind, yes I'm sure it will help me to think, thank you sir, we are all enjoying our holiday immensely,", Leonard told him, then after saying goodbye Leonard ended the call, feeling utterly astonished at how easy Penny's plan went.

"Well?, What did he say?", Penny demanded, as she hopped excitedly from one foot to another, well they have offered me a pay rise of 50%, and I am to take an extra two weeks holiday to think about it", Leonard told her, still numb from the shock of Dr Gablehauser speaking to him in a manner as if he was the most valued PHD they have ever had.

"See, I told you so. Who's the Genius now Hofstadter", Penny asked him triumphantly.

"You are my love,", he admitted. Then taking her in his arms he gave her a most passionate kiss to the accompaniment of a chorus of Eeewws, from their three Daughters.

Then Leonard added they are willing to pay for everything, for us to stay for those extra two weeks, at the Malibu Inn. Penny squealed with delight, for finally her Leonard was receiving the respect he so thoroughly deserved, as well as looking forward to her sharing the hotel suite bath with Leonard.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

 **Newton Academy**

Penny read the letter again. The client had written demanding that the work on refurbishing her lounge and kitchen, must be completed by the 25th of November, as she wanted to put her plans in operation for the coming Christmas festivities in December. Penny snorted in derision, _'Are you for real?, just how on earth are we to manage that, when you cannot make up your damn mind what colours, flooring and wallpaper you want for your lounge?, and now you also tell me that you want the natural beech finish for the skirting instead?.', Penny summed up in her mind,_ Then speaking out loud to herself _, "_ Honestly, I've a good mind to pull out, then let's see you do it all by yourself by the 25th?".

She picked up her phone intending to give the client a piece of her mind, but then thought it might be better to ring them and explain that the client must make a decision on these things, as soon as Penny had regained her temper.

It was so aggravating though, already they had plastered, painted and tiled the walls and ceiling in the kitchen, when the client decided to change the cooker she had chosen previously for a bigger one, which entailed installing a bigger cable to power the thing and thence walls had to be chased and floor dug up for the larger cable, and by the time this was done the whole kitchen had a covering of dust, and this, despite Penny, and her girls, Kelly and Sandra's best efforts to cover everything up. So the whole kitchen had to be decorated again, after plastering and tiling once the chases had been filled.

Penny sighed, if she ever finished this contract it will be the very last time she'll do any more work for this client.

Just then her phone rang, and Penny picked it up hoping it wasn't the client.

"Hello, Penny Hofstadter's designs , may I help you?", Penny said, crossing her fingers.

"Hello this is St David's school Secretary, I'm ringing about your Daughter, Honey Marie Hofstadter, the Principal has requested that you attend a meeting with her at 10:45 tomorrow Morning. Please observe the appointment, as it is quite important that you attend.", and before Penny could ask the reason for this meeting, the Secretary had rung off.

Penny was utterly stunned for Honey Marie had only gone back to school after the Summer recess 6 weeks ago, whatever mischief had Honey Marie been up to, as the Secretary had sounded as though it was quite a serious matter.

Penny remembered her schooldays and how her mother had lost count of the times she had had to go to see the School Principal about Penny's bad behaviour. Bad behaviour that Penny greatly feared that any of her Daughter's ever finding out.

Leonard stepped back from his board, in order to get a broader view of his equation. When Sheldon's voice behind him made Leonard jump.

"You may have ingratiated yourself to Dr Gablehauser and President Siebert, but you are not fooling me, I must congratulate you and ask what method of sucking up, did you use to get all the new equipment you now have in this lab?. When I myself have received nothing at all in spite of the important ground breaking work that I have achieved", Sheldon angrily accused.

"First of all Sheldon, **All,** the labs have been upgraded with new equipment, while all you need is a board and a marker, and perhaps you would like to enlighten me on the advances in science you have successfully achieved", Leonard replied, irked by Sheldon's accusations.

Sheldon opened and closed his mouth a few times, which reminded Leonard of a goldfish, then the violent twitching started contorting his face.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Sheldon finally spat out testily after several minutes had passed.

"OK Sheldon perhaps you would like to help with this equation as I think it's wrong somewhere", Leonard asked him.

"I will do that only on condition my name heads any paper you may submit on this discovery", Sheldon demanded.

"Well that's fair enough Sheldon, by all means then", Leonard told him as he indicated the board.

Sheldon began to pore over the board, and the more he read, the more the look on his face changed from triumphant superiority, to utter consternation, as he gradually realized that the equation was utterly beyond his capability to comprehend. Finally unable to take the truth of the situation that Leonard, evidently to Sheldon, was even more advanced in physics than Kripke was, when Sheldon had to collaborate with him on a project. He had used back then, the excuse of frequent coitus with Amy, to remove any suspicion that Kripke might have had over Sheldon's inadequacy, but this time Sheldon was totally and utterly stumped, and finally unable to take the humiliation he threw his marker to the floor and stormed out, saying as he passed Leonard. "You Sir, have written what is simply complete Balderdash, and I refuse to be party to such an infantile jape.

When Honey Marie returned from school, Penny was a little puzzled. For Honey Marie's demeanor seemed no different than usual, and rather than put pressure on her Daughter, Penny decided it would be better perhaps, to leave any likely discipline until she had got the full details from the Principle tomorrow.

The next day Leonard accompanied Penny to the meeting and once introductions were made and they were seated, the Principle, a Mrs Hill explained.

"first of all I understand Dr Hofstadter, that you have been educating your Daughter through her pre- school years?," Leonard nodded, " Well it might explain why we have this dilemma, though I must apologize about this matter, but we really should have noted Honey Marie's problem last term, but as you may be aware her regular teacher Miss Prentice had health problems during that year and so we were forced to use a succession of temporary staff to stand in for Miss Prentice.

Penny sat there and wished Mrs Hill would get straight to the point, and tell them what the problem was with Honey Marie.

"Three weeks ago, Miss Prentice had given the pupils two test papers, one a simple spelling test while the other was an arithmetic paper, the pupils were set 45 minutes to complete both tests, and your Daughter completed both in under 10 minutes, we were not quite sure of the actual time, but Miss Prentice after about 10 minutes, had noticed Honey Marie idly staring out the window, so after Miss Prentice had advised your Daughter to get on with the tests, Honey Marie informed her that she had finished, and when we checked her test papers later we found her answers were 100% correct", Mrs hill told them in what was rather a droning voice and Penny's mind had wandered as a result, and Penny had been idly looking out the window and was in the process of studying a curiously shaped cloud, and was deciding what it most resembled, (Penny's wandering mind, was a common occurrence with Penny whenever a school Principle or teacher would try and educate her), and Penny had failed to grasp exactly what Mrs Hill was trying to tell them, at first.

Mrs Hill Droned on,

"After a few days we gave Honey Marie another test for 12 year old's, of mathematics and trigonometry, she completed that one in 15 minutes," Penny struggled to stifle a yawn, Mrs Hill continued droning,

"and yet again all her answer's were correct.

Yesterday we gave her a mathematics test for high school exam students, and she took 40 minutes to complete that one, and though this time not all were correct, though she still had more than enough correct marks for a pass, about 98%, also Mrs Prentice informs me that Honey Marie's reading is exceptional for a 6 year old girl, in fact while her classmates are still on rather elementary reading material, your Daughter was seen by me in the library, reading the Silmarillion, by Tolkien."

, at this Leonard interrupted, "Yeah that's right, I remember she wanted some background information to the mythology of the Lord of the Rings, so I advised her to look that book up",

Mrs Hill went on, "I have been an educator for 35 years," at this, Penny almost giggled as Mrs Hill sounded just like the Principle in the movie 'Uncle Buck', only, without the wart.

Mrs Hill then resumed her droning, after turning a weather eye on Penny.

"And I have never before seen such ability in a student, as I have seen in your Daughter, I'm afraid our problem is," (Here Penny resisted the temptation to shout 'Finally',) "we are unable to teach at the standard your Daughter requires, Therefore I would like you to consider sending Honey Marie to the Newton Academy for gifted children, as you will see from their prospectus here,", She said as she handed them a rather thick booklet, "that they specialize in teaching Science, Physics and all the branches of Mathematics, and I recommend to you that this will benefit your Daughter immensely." Mrs Hill finally finished, then stared at them quizzically, as though trying to determine how serious they were, over their Daughters educational needs.

Once they had returned home a highly delighted Leonard, and a numb with shock Penny, sat and mulled over the Newton Academy Prospectus, though after approximately 3 minutes, Penny needed a large something to help her get over the shock, and half a pint of Vodka later and Penny began to worry.

Every bullying incident that Leonard suffered from other children while growing up, a Genius struggling to cope with normal schoolchildren began to cross her mind until Penny, panicking at quite how she was going to cope with a gifted child then lashed out at the nearest scapegoat.

"This is your fault! Why on earth did you have to show her all that stuff. Answer me this?, Just how is Honey Marie going to have a normal life now, all you have done for her is to get her bullied by every other kid around," Penny raged.

"Penny it will be OK, believe me. You and Me together we'll watch out for her", Leonard soothingly told her.

"What!, Just like your parents did for you, Leonard?" Penny angrily reminded him.

"Well! Perhaps you would rather She ended up like your friends, huh, just remind me what are they doing now?", Leonard asked her.

Penny reluctantly began to think about her old friends, most of the fit guys she knew were farm labourer's, or no hopers like Kurt, The girls too, Sylvia, mother of two and married to a farm labourer, and had never even left Nebraska. Della, five children and divorced, Sharon, Penny hadn't seen her since the night she stole TJ from Penny. But not one of Penny's old friends had got very far in their careers. In fact out of all of them only Penny herself had achieved anything at all, and Penny knew all too well much of that was only thanks to Leonard's support and help when she was a waitress at the Cheesecake factory, frankly if it wasn't for Leonard She would have soon been forced to return home to Nebraska with her tail between her legs, and as she finally admitted to herself, that there was no way that she would let Honey Marie make the same stupid mistakes that Penny had made, in her life. Then Penny rushed towards Leonard in tears, "I'm sorry Honey. It's just that I'm so scared", she wept.

"Penny, please listen to me, Honey Marie has parents that love her to bits, we are not at all even remotely like my Mom and dad was, and thankfully now my Mom has changed for the better, our Daughters have four Grandparents that also love them very much. So Honey Marie is not as alone as I was, when I was growing up, she has enormous support behind her every step of the way," Leonard reasoned.

Penny glanced up at Leonard, and a smile gradually appeared on her face as she meditated on the enormous amount of love that Honey Marie had behind her.

"I'm sorry Honey, I should have thought of that", Penny admitted.

"Hey, it's only because of your love for all our Daughters that you worry so. So never apologize for doing that," Leonard told her.

And at that the couple embraced.

Leonard was not at all surprised to see Amy standing on his doorstep, and at the worried look on her face, Leonard guessed that Sheldon was still struggling mightily to accept change.

I'm so sorry, but I'm desperate, Sheldon's really having a hard time lately," Amy began.

Leonard did not want to sound churlish by pointing out the fact that Sheldon Cooper gives everyone around him a hard time, and only nodded in agreement.

"Do you know?, he even rang Cambridge University himself to point out their mistake in offering the Physics chair to the wrong name and the name they were actually looking for was in fact Dr Sheldon Cooper, PHD. Only for the official at the other end of the line to inform him that they only offer these high Honours to persons who are highly respected among their colleagues, and who have contributed much to the advancement of Physics as Dr Leonard Hofstadter has achieved on more than one occasion. And we do not hand it out to persons like yourself who frequent common drinking establishments such as that known dive of the ne'er do well, the Rose and Crown. And I wish you Physics students would curtail these silly pranks and stop disrupting others in the carrying out of their duties", Amy related, then, now tearfully, she continued, "Sheldon just calmly put the phone down and wept, and now he has retreated to the bedroom and refuses to come out."

"Oh no!, he hasn't started buying cats yet has he?", Leonard asked her.

"Thankfully no, but I really don't know what he will do next?", Amy admitted fretfully.

"I am at a loss as to what to suggest, first it was Dennis Kim, then Kripke and now he has realized that I myself, am more advanced in my studies than he realized, and what with the offer of the chair from Cambridge. Well?", Leonard surmised.

"added to that, some of us are so busy with our families now, things are bound to change, and unfortunately for Sheldon we can't turn the clock back," Penny added.

And so they talked together but were no nearer a solution for Dr Sheldon Cooper, than they were at the start.

And it wrenched Penny's heart as she saw the anguish on her Bestie's face as she returned home.

Newton Academy was named in honour of Sir Isaac Newton and in the tradition of educational establishments in England they used English titles for the head of staff, so instead of Principle Dr Peregrine Leyton' Smythe PhD, It was Headmaster, Dr Peregrine Leyton' Smythe PhD, and as he informed them of his name, 'Peregrine', Penny very nearly wet herself as she could have sworn he had said his name was Pelican.

Though the Pelican, as Penny had forever after knew him by, quickly dismissed Penny as a gold digger, who had fallen in love with Dr Hofstadter's wallet as soon as he had opened it, but as Leonard was explaining to him about the plight of the teaching staff at St Davids, as they struggled with the higher academic requirements of Honey Marie, Penny nodded and smiled in agreement with Leonard and as the Pelican caught sight of the look of adoration on Penny's face for her husband, the Pelican was forced to admit to himself that he could not have been more wrong about Mrs Hofstadter.

"Our policy at Newton Academy requires all students to take an entrance examination, as this will not only weed out those who are weaker in educational ability, and I hasten to assure you, after what you have told me as well as the learned opinion of Mrs Hill, in her letter, that I do not believe your Daughter falls into this category, Therefore the examination will help us in this case to determine the academic level your daughter has attained to at present", The Pelican informed them in a rather pompous manner.

Leaving Penny to wonder what he would have made of a much younger Penny if she attempted his entrance exam.

Three days later Honey Marie took the entrance exam and was only the fifth student and also the youngest, in the illustrious history of Newton Academy to achieve a 100% exam result, and to the delight of Dr and Mrs Hofstadter, Honey Marie was formally enrolled as a student of Newton Academy.

Penny, as they were on their way home had an idea and asked Leonard if he would drive to Sheldon and Amy's house, and as Leonard changed direction for Sheldon's house, Penny talked over her idea with Honey Marie, before calling Amy, and telling her that they were coming over and also to fill Amy in on Penny's plan.

Amy was stood at the front door as they drew up, and Penny fervently hoped her plan would work for Amy's relieved smile made Penny even more fearful if her plan was to fail. The couple sat with Amy in the lounge as Honey Marie climbed the stairs to Sheldon's room and knocked on his door announcing her name, before Uncle Sheldon, bade her enter.

After half an hour an excited Sheldon Cooper came bounding down the stairs and handed Honey Marie all his algebra exercise books and anything else he could find that would help propel Honey Marie to academic fame, after all what better reward could there be than for Dr Sheldon Cooper to teach, and to pass on the sacred knowledge of Physics to not only his favourite niece, but also a proud student of Newton Academy itself.

Amy, once Sheldon and Honey Marie had headed for the dining room with their books, rushed over and gave Penny the biggest hug she had ever given her, and thanked Penny profusely, over and over again.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

 **Feud**

When the Principle of St David's school, ' a certain Mrs Hill' suffered pangs of conscience that Honey Marie's academic gift had almost slipped by unnoticed, as well as the memories of Mrs Hofstadter's accusing stare that still kept haunting her, (actually Penny had been scrutinizing her and trying to imagine what Mrs Hill might look like if she had the same large unsightly wart that the Principle in the movie 'Uncle Buck', had.

Mrs Hill, then firmly stressed to other staff members, (during an impromptu staff meeting lasting two hours,) that they must in future be vigilant in spotting other children with certain talent in academic studies, and must without fail inform Mrs Hill Immediately, upon which all halfheartedly agreed, Miss Prentice because she was annoyed at having to cancel a date at short notice, a date Miss Prentice had every confidence in leading to white dress and Church Minister.

Also Mr Price, the Science Teacher, who was not a little annoyed when he was informed of Mrs Hill's last minute staff meeting and Muttered under his breath "Oh daro!".

As when he was angered Mr Price would often lapse back into His native tongue of Wales. Particularly so that day, because that very morning he had received by Fed-Ex the 00 scale model steam locomotive of the LNER A3 class Tornado 4-6-2 , on which Mr Price, was itching to try out on his layout as soon as he had returned home from a hard day of inculcating science into young minds. (Mr price was proud to own a layout large enough and made by himself, that would even impress a certain Dr Sheldon Cooper).

And even now, Honey Marie on rising in the morning, would often greet her Mother with, "Bore da", as Mr Price was apt to greet his Pupils in such a fashion on his arrival at the school every Morning.

And Penny could never be really certain whether Honey Marie was swearing at her or not.

Especially when Honey Marie was encouraged by Mr Price to try and pronounce the place name in the Isle of Anglesey, " **Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch** **".** And every attempt Honey Marie made, As it appeared to Penny, only seemed to cause Honey Marie to spit everywhere.

Therefore, after said meeting, it was not long before the twins, Angela and April were discovered to have the same talents as Honey Marie and to Honey Marie's chagrin, also passed the entrance examination with an 100% pass rate, and as a result quickly ended Honey Marie's record as the youngest ever to pass with full marks.

And after that a sibling rivalry developed between the twins and their older sister as to who was the best, (It seemed that all three girls had received their Father's ability to soak up knowledge, and as the violent struggles later on, bore out, according to Leonard, also their Mother's fire), which quickly developed into open warfare when Honey Marie was chosen to be Marie Curie in the end of term play put on for the Parents, governors of the school, and special Guests. And Leonard, to Penny's immense pride, found He himself was included in the 'special' Guest category.

The hostilities though first descended into violent conflict, after Leonard had inadvertently placed a toy belonging to April in Honey Marie's room, Resulting in Angela, immediately standing up for her twin and accusing Honey Marie of taking it.

And Penny, though she loved her Husband very much, felt like strangling him, as she held a damp cloth to Honey Marie's nosebleed, while trying to discipline Angela who was complaining loudly to her Mother that Angela herself was the injured party.

Leonard had been begged, cajoled and Persuaded by Dr Peregrine Leyton' Smythe PhD the Headmaster of Newton Academy, to give a prize for the highest academic achievement that term, and was therefore extremely worried lest one of his own Daughter's would win. And therefore escalate tensions still further between the girls.

At news of the play, Uncle Sheldon Cooper took a great deal of interest in helping his protege and favourite niece, perform to her utmost ability,

(Sheldon had, ever since her proud Parents brought Honey Marie home from the hospital, to be greeted by Amy, and finally after much encouragement from Amy, Sheldon himself. And as he tremblingly put a hand in her bassinet, (Sheldon's nervousness was more because he was afraid of catching some nasty virus, rather than from the awe of the sight of a perfectly formed Baby), Honey Marie grabbed his finger in her tiny hand and ever after that Sheldon considered her to be a very close relative of his.

although Penny firmly drew the line when Uncle Sheldon suggested that Honey Marie lose some weight in order to correctly portray a haggard and ill woman suffering from the radiation poisoning from her own discovery in order to add more realism to her performance.

It would have to be that very afternoon when Leonard had just left Cal-Tech when his car suddenly lost power, leaving Leonard no choice but to pull over to the side. He quickly rang AAA, then after dialing Penny's number, then Leonard nervously pressed call and mentally prepared himself for the explosion which would surely come from the other end of the line. "Hi Honey, Guess what?, my car has broken down," Leonard told Penny, thankful that he took the precaution of not holding his cell close to his ear, "yeah I called them, Yes, there was plenty of gas in the tank, No I don't know what's up with it?. It's been running fine till now?, Okay I'll wait here for you then, see you in a few minutes then", then Leonard ended the call.

Penny just threw an exasperated look at her cell, "trust Leonard to break down now of all times", she muttered as she grabbed April and wiped the dinner off her face which April had failed to do so when she was sent up to wash earlier, but in the ensuing struggle Penny laddered her tights on a kitchen chair and then rushed upstairs to change them.

Just then an excited Sheldon arrived with Amy to pick up Honey Marie early, so they could go through her lines with her, in spite of Penny's efforts to prompt Honey Marie all week. (Penny had originally planned for all the immediate family to travel together, but after the bickering earlier, between the girls, Penny decided perhaps it would be best if the twins would travel apart from their older sister and allowed Sheldon and Amy to take her instead.

Then once they had left, Penny about to leave to pick up Leonard, noticed a dirty mark on Angela's skirt and sent her up to change it.  
"Mom, where's my white skirt?, Angela asked Penny, who was just hurriedly putting on her new pair of tights. Then Penny wasted even more time in sorting through the clean Laundry before finding the garment and then hurriedly ironed it for Angela to put on, and while waiting for Angela, Penny frantically searched for her car keys, before eventually finding them nearly disappearing down the back of the sofa after Penny had carelessly thrown them down in her hurry to read her new magazine.

At last Penny and the twins were on their way to pick up Leonard, arriving just after the breakdown truck, then Penny impatiently waited as Leonard's car was inspected before discovering that the automatic choke had stuck closed and the car would have to be towed to a garage, so after giving the breakdown driver the address of the garage, Leonard got in Penny's car, and to Penny's huge relief they were on their way

"God I'm so nervous, Penny commented after they parked then quickly grabbing a brush from her purse she proceeded to smooth down a couple of stray curls that had refused to lie down on Leonard's head then straightening his tie, before after more burrowing in her purse, Penny pulled out a packet of wet wipes for Leonard to clean himself up a bit.

The play went quite well there were a couple of hiccups, Thomas Alva Edison switched on his light only for the bulb to immediately blow, at which Sheldon began reeling off a list of all the materials Edison tried before his eventual success only to get shushed by Amy.

And the operator of the curtains brought them down a little too soon on the first part with Isaac Newton getting hit on the head, while sitting under a flower of Kent apple tree, and according to Penny some years ago, invented gravity. ( the curtain came down simultaneously with the apple.

Leonard, with some difficulty struggled to concentrate on the play as Penny was quietly saying Honey Marie's lines for her, and Angela got an attack of the hiccups halfway through, then Leonard got another reproving stare from Penny as his stomach growled noisily. (as he had missed his dinner because of the breakdown). While April fidgeted all the way through wishing she had had her Nintendo DS with her as this is so boring, prompting another reproving stare from her Mother.  
Finally as the curtain fell, (properly this time,) after all the cast took their bow, and Penny tried desperately to wipe her tears so that Honey Marie wouldn't see them and feel embarrassed by her Mother, as they waited for Honey Marie to return after changing out of her stage clothes.

"Mom, did I really have to do all this acting garbage, I hated it, acting is so for lamebrains", Honey Marie told her Mother after they had all hugged and congratulated her.  
"Thanks very much sweetie, that really makes me feel good about choosing it for my career, remind me to tell Kay and J.G. about your interesting observation".  
Then just before the interval ended, the Headmaster's assistant told Leonard that the prize giving was about to start, and to a very relieved Leonard it was announced later, that the winner of the most outstanding academic achievement award, was won by Malachi Sewell, (To the sheer pride of one Howard Wolowitz, when Leonard told him about it all later).

"Did you know?, your Mom starred in a commercial on T.V. once". Leonard told his oldest daughter as they were leaving.  
"What was the commercial for?", Honey Marie asked her Mother.  
"I'm sorry sweetie it was so long ago I don't think I can remember", she told her Daughter.  
"I think I might be able to recall it", Leonard said, grinning at his wife.

"Shut up Honey", Penny told him so the girls didn't hear, "Come on let's go home", she said to them all.

If Penny hoped the armistice would begin the next day after the play, she was wrong.

It took just a, "Well I thought you looked a dork", from Angela to Honey Marie for the war to resume.

But by this time Penny had had enough , with a struggle she halted hostilities and forced them out into the garden, then pointing to a long patch of ground to the side of the garden she told them, "as you three seem to have so much energy?, perhaps you would like to weed this patch of ground for me?. Now I am going for coffee with your Auntie's Bernadette, Amy and Kay. And I want you Honey Marie to tell me if the twins start slacking and I want you twins to tell me if Honey Marie idles the morning away. Do I make myself clear?,) Penny demanded.

And after hearing a chorus of "yes mom", Penny left for Bernadette's.

(When on one occasion, Penny had given Amy and Bernadette a tour of the studio, she had introduced them to Kay, who had found she had so much in common, with Penny's two dear friends, that now Kay was included in their regular girl club meet ups.)

Leonard was instructed before Penny left to keep a discreet eye on the girls and told him of her scheme to get the girls to be friendly again.

The girls worked together in a strained silence for two hours before Angela asked Honey Marie for a truce. "look, I'm sick to death of pulling up weeds, and I think we've done enough now, let's pack it in and have a game together?", Angela asked.

Honey Marie too had had enough and welcomed a halt to the task. "Yes alright then, what shall we play?", she asked Angela.

Leonard standing by the kitchen window but unseen by the girls smiled as they played happily together, 'Penny might not be a genius where physics are concerned, but she is an absolute phenomenon when it comes to handling people', he thought.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

 **Scared**

Penny Kissed Leonard goodbye then went upstairs to wake her Daughters as she was taking them shopping for some clothes today.  
April was awake and playing on her Nintendo DS, while her sister Angela was still buried under the covers.  
"Angela wakey wakey sweetie", Penny called her, giving her a little shake into the bargain. Then to April, "Will you get dressed please, don't forget we're going to get some new clothes today".  
April threw off the covers and still playing her DS went downstairs for some breakfast.  
Angela moaned, rolled from side to side then coming to an anchor she stretched and reluctantly got out of bed and joined her twin at the breakfast table and poured the last of the Froot Loops into her Bowl.  
Five minutes later her older sister also appeared, picked up the Froot Loops packet snorting in disgust at finding it empty, then vociferously complained to her Mom about the greediness of the twins.  
Penny In exasperation at her Daughters, asked Honey Marie what she would like instead?.  
"I'll have a strawberry poptart please", Honey Marie replied, still giving hard looks at the twins.  
"Ok Honey, _ain't they the best though?", Penny told her Daughter, although Penny was thinking more of Leonard, rather than the actual poptart_ And after handing it over to her eldest Daughter _,_ Penny poured out a coffee to take up to her Mom, as she had come down, for a couple of weeks as the girls were on vacation from school.  
Then after giving her Mom her coffee, Penny went to have a shower as her Mom, when she had finished her coffee was going to make sure that the girls washed and dressed.  
Penny turned the shower on and once it was at the right temperature got in and picked up the shower gel and looked for the sponge, then muttered irritably, as it had seemed to have disappeared, then discarding the idea of getting back out to look for it now she was already wet, decided to use her hands instead.  
As she began to wash her right breast Penny felt a lump on the side of her breast, Immediately Penny froze and examined her breast again, yes there was a definite lump there.  
Penny felt quite faint and in a panic grabbed the shelf to stop herself collapsing, her face now was white as a sheet. All sorts of thoughts flashed through her mind, _"was it cancer?", "if it was and it was incurable, how would Leonard and the girls cope without her ?", "and if not would she have to have a mastectomy?", "and if she did would Leonard not want her anymore?"_ , then Penny began to cry.  
Marcia had the three girls ready by the time Penny came back down and straight away Marcia noticed the worried look on her Daughter's face. "Are you OK Penny, you seem tense", "I'm OK Mom, just thinking over some things", Penny replied not yet feeling able to discuss the problem with anyone yet.  
Penny had another coffee then skipping breakfast, as She was feeling too knotted up inside to eat.

Penny badly needed someone to talk to, and her Mom would have been first choice but as her Daughters were present that was really not possible right now. Penny decided it was no good, she really needed to go and confide in Bernadette.

"Look, I've just got an errand to run first, I'll be back in about an hour", Penny told them all, then grabbing her purse, She left.

Marcia knew for certain something was up, and with Penny's history when She was younger, it crossed Marcia's mind, to her great fear for her Granddaughters, if perhaps Penny was having an affair.

Penny rushed at speed over to the Wolowitz's place, and was extremely lucky not to be caught speeding, though her speed was the last thing on Penny's mind at that moment, but to her immense distress there was no one at home. She jumped back in her car, and with shaking hands tried to ring Bernadette, only to hear her voicemail in reply, and Penny hung up, as She was not feeling able to tell a machine about a very personal problem.

Penny sat and tried to think what to do, then She turned the car, and headed for Tarzana and Kay.

Upon arriving at her destination, Penny gave her I.D. To security who rang Kay, and Penny waited, her hands unknowingly gripping tightly to the steering wheel and hoping that Kay was in, when after a couple of minutes Kay told security to let Penny through.

"Hi Penny. I thought I was seeing you at Amy's place next Friday evening for girls night?, is anything Wrong?", Kay asked her, feeling somewhat puzzled at Penny's sudden appearance without ringing first. Which Penny always usually did.

Penny opened her mouth to reply, but instead only burst into tears.

Kay immediately put her arms round her friend to comfort her, "Is it Leonard?", She asked Penny.

Penny shook her head vigorously in denial.

"Then tell me, What's the matter", Kay asked now even more puzzled.

But Penny could not stop crying to reply.

Kay sat her down on the sofa and made Penny a large mug of hot chocolate with a little Irish cream in it, hoping perhaps the comforting drink might calm Penny down a little.

And it certainly seemed to do the trick, as after drinking half, Penny felt able to talk.

"I, I found a lump. In my breast", Penny whispered fearfully.

And at the sight of the immense distress on her friends face, Kay was almost moved to tears. "I'm so sorry Penny. Have you seen anyone yet?, and what did Leonard say?", Kay asked her.

"I found it this morning, when I was having my shower, and I haven't told Leonard yet, I'm too scared he might leave me or something", Penny confessed, and once again letting her insecurities to get the better of her.

"Penny!, surely you don't really believe that of Leonard do you?. Come on Honey, every time I see you, your conversation is always Leonard did this or Leonard said that, and tell me, would you always speak so highly of your husband if you thought he'd ever leave you?, would you?", Kay reasoned.

And at that Penny realized how irrational she was being, as she knew, more likely Leonard would be as devastated as she was.

"I'm sorry, you're right of course, it's just that I'm so scared. I'm not ready to die and let go of my Leonard, or my girls come to that, and I just didn't know what to do", Penny admitted.

"oh Sweetie, come here, you must understand. Not all lumps are cancerous you know", Kay said and gave Penny a long hug to comfort her, "You must talk to Leonard, believe me sweetie it's best for you to face it with your husband, it will do you no good in facing it alone, speak to Leonard", Kay urged.

Penny nodded in agreement, then after finishing her drink she thanked Kay, and made her way to Cal-Tech to talk to Leonard, but to her chagrin Sarah, Leonard's secretary, informed her that Leonard was in a conference and would not be available for a couple of hours. And so remembering that she was taking her girls for some new clothes Penny sadly made her way home.

and ten minutes after arriving home, she left with her Mother and the girls for the Mall.

Penny sat gazing into space as she still fretted over the lump in her breast, waiting for the girls to return with the clothes they were trying on.  
"I like this skirt, it's so cute", Angela told her mother as she twirled round.  
"Yeah it looks good honey", Penny absently told her.  
"Penny, are you sure?, that skirt is about seven inches above the knee, or more", Marcia said frowning at her.  
Penny suddenly coming back to the present, took a second look. "Angela your Grammy's right see if you can find another one that's a bit longer.  
"Aww Mom!," Angela moaned in disgust at her mother, before stomping off to change.  
"This so reminds me of when I used to shop for clothes for you, you always went for the shortest skirts, and the lowest cut tops I seem to remember", her Mother Marcia commented.  
"Yeah but I've learned from bitter experience that it only attracts jerks, and I certainly don't want my girls to repeat my mistakes". Penny replied.  
"I know I've said it before but I'm so glad you met Leonard, Your Pa and I were getting really worried about the direction you were taking with your life"  
"Yeah he's the best, Penny agreed but still thinking to herself " _but would he still want me, when I am only half a woman?_ ".  
Then Honey Marie came out wearing a pair of shorts that were cut so high that half her buttocks were on show and was promptly sent back for a less revealing pair.  
Finally after the girls had got the message that anything skimpy was a no no, they went to the checkout to pay for their clothes. The cashier rung them through and said "that'll be $235.37 Please Madam".  
Penny reached inside her purse for her wallet, then panicked realizing that she had left it at home.  
"It's OK Honey, I'll pay and then you can Pay me back when we return home", Marcia told her , her concern increasing as Penny turned white and looked as if she was going to burst into tears.  
After paying Marcia suggested they went for a coffee at which a chorus of I'm hungry came from the three girls, so they headed for a KFC, Marcia and the twins went to the counter while Penny and Honey Marie took a seat and waited, Penny again staring into space while her hands were wringing the life out of a serviette.  
"I got a big bucket for all of us", Marcia announced handing Penny her coffee.  
"Sorry I'm just not really hungry today", Penny told her Mother.  
"Penny come on you never had breakfast, you must eat something" Marcia pleaded with her.  
So Penny ate a couple of pieces of chicken, mainly so that her mother would not keep asking her questions.  
But Marcia's mind was in a turmoil at what could be wrong with Penny?. "Had Penny really met someone else?", "or is she being stalked?, you do read about these things in the papers happening to people in the public eye". "Penny please, is there anything wrong honey, you seem so worried today?", Marcia asked her outright.  
Penny snapped at her mother "I'm fine Mom really I'm OK".  
Marcia let the matter drop, Something was up but if Penny wasn't prepared to talk there really was not a lot that Marcia could do.

They left the KFC and looked round a few more shops then they made their way for home, a journey that was completed in a frigid silence between Penny and her Mother both being occupied by their own private thoughts.

Upon their return Honey Marie and Angela went over to see their friend Rebecca, Marcia sat down and read a magazine while April played on her DS in her room, Penny seized the opportunity to examine herself again hoping against all hope that she would find the lump had disappeared, though she was not surprised to find it still there. Penny was torn between denial and booking an appointment with her Doctor , the latter option to find the truth was just too hard to face for her and Penny yet again despite previously promising Kay that she would talk to Leonard, but instead she bottled up her feelings and fears, she just could not face the possibility that he would leave her if she had to have a mastectomy.  
Penny just seemed to be, totally unable to concentrate and after putting one of her daughters white school blouses in the coloured wash and getting a pink blouse, then later putting her coffee cup down to find when it shattered on the floor that she had misjudged where the edge of the table was, then forgot to turn on the hotplate under the saucepan for dinner, it was just not going well for her at all.

On Leonard's return home from Cal-Tech he was immediately commandeered by Angela to help her with a problem on her maths homework which was concluded just as dinner was ready, then sitting down to eat, he puzzled as to why Penny wasn't eating.  
"I'm just not hungry right now sweetie", she replied in a quiet voice.  
Then Leonard became absorbed in the minutes of the conference that morning. And while he worked in his study, Penny idly flicked between programs on the TV, her mind still in absolute turmoil and uncertainty as to what she should do.  
While Marcia meanwhile was playing Monopoly with her granddaughters in the dining room.

It was doubtful if Penny would ever have said anything if she had not pulled out the wrong plug to plug in her phone charger in the event that the alarm failed to go off. Leonard had awoke and looking at the clock saw that it was off then looking at the time on his cellphone, jumped up in panic to rush to get ready for work. Waking Penny who sleepily wondered what what was up.  
"Honey you unplugged the alarm!, I'm late for work now", Leonard said as he reached for a clean shirt.  
Penny her look stricken then collapsed into a flood of tears alerting Leonard that something was going on with Penny.  
"Ok Honey tell me what's wrong?, this is not like you at all", he said soothingly taking her into his arms.  
Penny turned her tear stained face towards him and taking his hand placed it under his t shirt she was wearing and onto the side of her right breast.  
"Can you feel it?", she asked him in a small voice.  
Leonard gently ran his fingers along the side of her breast and felt his stomach knot tightly in fear as he felt the bump too.  
"Have you called our Doctor yet?" he asked her, the look on his face quite anxious.  
"No, I've been so afraid of what I might find out", she sobbed.  
Leonard knew this was not the time for anger for her not telling him. Penny needed his gentle help and support now.  
"It's OK Honey, We'll call him and then take it from there", he said trying to be as encouraging as possible.  
"But Leonard, what will you do if I die from it? or will you still love me if I have to have the breast removed?"  
"Penny Please, let's not talk about you dying, I fell in love with your big heart not your breasts, do you really think it would be even remotely possible that I could ever stop loving you?, we will face whatever happens together side by side, I love you too much to let you go now, in fact I categorically refuse to let you go!, so your dying is totally out of the question, you can not get rid of me that easily Penny","listen I will take the rest of the day off and together we will ring Dr Thomas and then he can arrange for you to have a mammogram which we will attend together. And this is how we are going to face this Honey, 'TOGETHER'.

Penny smiled at the determination of Leonard to never let her go, and hugging him tightly she rained many kisses on his face.

Marcia looked up as they entered the lounge and noted Penny now looking quite relaxed and happy.  
Together they sat and informed Marcia that Penny had found a lump on her breast and they had arranged to see the Doctor tomorrow afternoon.  
"It's probably nothing Penny, not all lumps are cancerous you know", Marcia said, echoing Kay's words. "And we have no family history of breast cancer either", she added  
Penny felt even more relief at her words, but had got most comfort from Leonard's assurance of how precious She was to Him, and not only in his words but She could see it in his eyes too.

Leonard Hofstadter exited out the main door and walked towards his car, then opening the door he got in put on his seat belt and turned the key, only to find that the battery was discharged, Leonard was in anguish, it was absolutely crucial that he went with Penny to their Doctor's this afternoon, and as Kay had pointed out to Penny, for Leonard, Penny was always his number one priority.  
He tried starting the vehicle again but all to no avail and getting out he slammed the door in a fit of temper then giving way to his emotions he began kicking the door then beating the roof with his fists before collapsing and sobbing in anguish against the car's roof.

It was fortunate that Howard had spotted his predicament from the vantage point of the engineering department office and came to his aid.  
"C'mon buddy let me take you home", Howard volunteered, wondering what had got Leonard so upset but at the same time not wanting to intrude.

Howard dropped Leonard home, having been reminded of that time all those years ago when Leonard was quite prepared to tear down the hospital walls with his bare hands to get to Penny and had to be sedated by a Doctor to stop him.  
Leonard had by now calmed down at seeing he was not too late to go with Penny to the Doctor's.

He entered his house then ascended the stairs to have a wash and a change of clothes, then bumped into Penny who was also getting ready, when Penny never missing a thing where her Leonard was concerned noticed his cut and bruised hands, "Leonard!, sweetie what's happened to your hands?, They're bleeding?"  
Leonard went on to explain a little sheepishly about the trouble he had with his car.  
"I just panicked that I was going to miss going with you, I didn't want you to face it alone", He explained, his eyes beginning to fill with tears.  
Penny did not fail to notice the anxiety that was written all over his face and ran into his arms,where they stood holding each other tightly and wept together.

Doctor Thomas after examining Penny then booked an appointment for her to have a mammogram explaining to her that she would still have to have the lump removed and that they would take a biopsy from it and then inform her of the result. Leonard and Penny thanked him and left and Leonard feeling a great need within himself to spend some time alone with Penny, took her to the local park and repeated to her how much he still loved her and nothing could ever, ever change that for him. Then finding a park bench in a secluded spot, they kissed and held each other tightly and just sat like that for some time.

Leonard accompanied Penny for her Mammogram two days later and then a week after that Penny had an operation to remove the lump from her right breast. While Leonard nervously paced the waiting room floor, and with his teeth removed excess fingernail in the process.

Four days later they were back at Dr Thomas's surgery for the result of the biopsy, and after hearing that the lump was benign the couple hugged each other and wept with relief.

And on leaving the surgery, Penny decided that Leonard and herself needed a break, so when Marcia flew back to Nebraska she was overjoyed to be accompanied by The Hofstadter family too.


	27. Chapter 27

****Chapter 27****

 ** **One of those Days****

Even on the flight to Nebraska for a relaxing break for the family, Leonard found himself still feeling very troubled, not only that Penny could even believe that he would leave her if she had a serious life changing illness, as she thought she had over her recent scare with the benign lump in her breast, but also he had been feeling quite unsettled over the possibility of the outcome being different and losing, for him the most precious person ever to come into his life .  
So while Penny slept beside him, Leonard spent the whole flight meditating on how he could really convince her that she was his world, his life.  
And just before they landed Leonard had thought out a possible plan.

He had been saving up for the last five years to have a ring made for her that matched the snowflake pattern on her Pendant and earrings he'd given her as a wedding present.  
Now that ring was in his hand luggage, all he had to do now is find a special time to present it to her and think carefully on the special words he could use to really drive home how special she was to him, he already knew the special place he would present it to her.

As soon as they got to the farm Penny and the girls went to see their horses giving an opportune time for Leonard to ask Marcia a favour. Then He rushed into the house and booked a table at Lo Sole Mio Ristorante in Omaha , ( _Penny loved real Italian food, not Sheldon's spaghetti with little hot-dogs cut up in it_ ) and also four nights at a four star Hotel ( _the free WiFi clinched it_ )

Then when Penny had returned he Kissed her then taking her hand he led her to the barn.

Penny puzzled when she saw the champagne and the bouquet of flowers decorating the spot where they exchanged their vows 8 years ago. Turned to Leonard and was about to ask what was going on when he put a finger to her lips and began to speak.  
"Penny Honey, I'm sorry that I haven't been so attentive to you lately, I guess I should not have been so busy with my work lately then you would not have felt that I would have left you if you had breast cancer". Leonard continued reaching into his pocket and opening the little case displaying the ring "So I had this made to match your pendant and earrings, I give this to you as a sign of my vow that my heart will ever and always will be yours".

Although feeling annoyed at Leonard, Penny gasped at the beautiful ring, allowing him to slip it on her finger then she hugged and kissed him then explained why it wasn't necessary.  
"sweetie, When I thought I had breast cancer I just panicked and many unfounded thoughts went through my head because of that. But deep down in my heart I knew you would still love me no matter what, Honey I see it in your eyes every time you look at me. I'm sorry if I hurt you by those thoughts I did not intend to doubt your love at all, and added to that was the realization that I was not ready to let go of you. And quite frankly Honey, I'm sure in my heart that I will never ever be ready to let go of you".

Leonard held her and kissed her "I'm sorry Penny, I love you so much, I guess I will never be able to let go of you either. I guess we both had quite a scare, still It showed us what we hold to be the most valuable in our lives though". Leonard reflected.

"Each other", they both said together, then laughing together, they hugged.

Leonard went on to inform her of the booking at the restaurant tomorrow evening and also the four nights in an hotel.  
"Leonard", Penny said in dismay, "I'm sorry honey but you may think I'm being so silly but I couldn't leave my girls for four days".

"Please Leonard, couldn't we do just one night, please." Penny asked.

"OK Honey, if that's what you really want?", he said kissing her again,

Penny planned to go shopping the next day for a new dress, shoes and a visit to Victoria's Secret, and also to purchase a new suit, shirt,tie and shoes for Leonard, for their evening in Omaha.  
( _Leonard hadn't picked out a suit for years, that was Penny's task, ever since Penny had seen Leonard's brown corduroy suit_ )

It took Penny 25 minutes to select a suit as well as a shirt, shoes and a tie for Leonard.

But it took Penny two hours to decide on a knee length ice blue dress, an hour and a half for her shoes and another hour and a half in Victoria's Secret before she eventually came out with three bags of bras and panties. For Leonard though, he had some compensation, as the look of happiness on his Penny's face was priceless.  
They stopped for a meal and a coffee . Then made their way to their hotel checked in and shared the huge bath then enjoyed some intimate loving time, made all the more special after their recent ordeal. And later, while Leonard watched T.V., and Penny, comfortably sat snuggled up against Leonard and read her magazine before they got ready for the restaurant and then dancing afterwards.

Meanwhile down on the farm, while the twins went with Marcia to get some supplies, Honey Marie helped Wyatt to do some farm chores and mend a fence on the farm.

To say helped was an exaggeration as although Honey Marie enjoyed seeing to the horses, (which so reminded Wyatt of a young Penny, as Honey Marie squealed her delight), But She quickly became bored with handing Wyatt his tools as he fixed the broken rail, and sought her own amusement by sloping off and climbing a wall on the side of a building, and walking along it before, Imagining She was a tightrope walker, and for the amusement of her vast imaginary audience, She turned and walked back along the wall towards the other end, however the roof overhang that end part of the wall and the wall was slippery as a result of the rain dripping from the roof on previous occasions.  
So as Honey Marie turned to walk back along the wall she slipped and fell straight into the mire into the pig sty that was on the other side of the wall. Fortunately Sadie the sow was an amenable creature having just enjoyed her lunch and was settling down for a snooze when Honey Marie put in her appearance, and Sadie just emitted a soft grunt in surprise, as Honey Marie lay a little winded, grazed and bruised in the mire.

Then getting up and upon getting her breath back she clambered over the door of the sty, and began bawling at the top of her voice, she made her unsteady way back to Wyatt.  
If it wasn't for the noise of Honey Marie's crying it would have been the stench that alerted Wyatt to Honey Marie's plight as she was absolutely covered in the stinking muck from the sty, from the top of her head to the soles of her shoes.  
Wyatt Panicked, Marcia would kill him for this and as for Penny, well he knew Penny's temper and that was even worse, and those consequences did not bear thinking about.

Wyatt knew there was no way that he could bring her into the house in her present state, so he had Honey Marie stand in the yard and remove her dress so he could hose most of the muck off of her before she could go into the house and get in the bath.

While she took her bath ,Wyatt hosed off her dress as well as he could then put it in the washing machine, ( and probably using it for the first time in his life), and wishing he knew exactly how to work it, then after collecting the rest of Honey Marie's clothes together, (at arms length), he put them with her dress into the machine and pushed the button marked start after emptying half a bottle of washing liquid into the machine, what Wyatt did not know was that Marcia previously used it on a hot wash, while Honey Marie's dress and socks needed a cooler wash, so, as Wyatt did his best to clean her shoes

The soap in the washing machine bubbled up out of the dispenser and all over the floor, so that by the time Honey Marie, now dressed in her pajamas and robe and had, had her grazes attended to by Wyatt the floor was six inches deep in suds.  
Wyatt was quite used to the rigours of farming but by the time he had cleaned up the foam from the floor and put Honey Marie's clothes in the drier ( _not noticing that her dress and socks would now fit a four year old_ ), now exhausted, he sat for a brief rest and quickly fell fast asleep.

At the Mall Marcia led the twins to the ladies and girls clothing store and began looking through the dresses, while the twins, spotting the teen section then wandered over and began to look through the cool items on the rail.

Meanwhile Marcia spotting a cute dress just her size immediately headed for the changing booths and completely forgetting the twins. So when the twins returned they were puzzled as to where Marcia had gone to, Then April spied what She thought was her Grammy just leaving through the main entrance, so the twins ran to catch up with her but lost her somewhere in the crowds outside. The twins frantically ran this way and that to try and see which way she had gone, then they decided for expediency, it might be better if they split up in order to cover more ground quickly.

Marcia, feeling pleased with the fit of the dress, and also feeling very pleased that finally she had found a dress that was her size in a store, and then headed for the checkout before suddenly remembering the twins and quickly ascertaining the fact that they were no longer in the store, began to panic and rushed outside the store to find them, then she suddenly felt someone grab her arm and asking her if she wouldn't mind accompanying her to the managers office in the store. And at that moment Marcia realized she hadn't yet paid for the dress before leaving the store.

At the hotel, Leonard and Penny were lying in bed in the afterglow, when Penny her head on Leonard's chest, looked up at him and asked worriedly, "Do you think the girls are OK?, Or do you think I should ring?".  
"I'm sure they're fine and having the time of their lives with your Mom and Dad", he assured her.

Meanwhile at the Mall , (unknown to their parents), Angela was scared not only was she lost but she was also alone, and now unable to find her Sister, let alone her Grammy, she began to cry.

Meanwhile April too was feeling the same helplessness and panic as her sister.

Marcia sat in the managers office, and animatedly tried to convince him that she was just attempting to find her twin granddaughters and had every intention of paying for the dress. A whole hour had passed before the Police Officer, a certain Officer Davies, the manager had summoned, had the bright idea of checking the CCTV to see if she was telling the truth, ( To be fair though Officer Davies, though normally conscientious in her duties, she had been distracted by a cute blouse in a beautiful shade of pink, which would go very nicely with the skirt she had purchased last week and had been somewhat distracted by asking the manager if he had any in her size), so after viewing the video footage, Marcia was seen entering the store accompanied by her two granddaughters they then ran the video until the twins could be seen exiting the store and finally, at that point Marcia was allowed to pay for the dress, while Officer Davies called an APB for every Officer in the vicinity of the mall, to look out for the twins somewhere in the mall, and then Officer Davies gave out their description.

Unfortunately everyone was looking for two identical twins together, and not two individual girls on their own. So another fretful hour had passed, before Marcia found April, ( _April had literally ran into Marcia in a blind panic while trying to find her sister),_ then the search was narrowed down to looking for only one little girl. And after another hour had passed Angela was also found safe, to the tremendous relief of Marcia.

It was about half an hour before Angela was found that Wyatt had rung and asked Marcia, without going into too many details if she could get another identical dress for Honey Marie, as her own had somehow shrunk in the drier. So if Marcia could see if she could get one in that ladies and girls clothing store, Marcia often went to?, then that would be dandy, Wyatt had said. Marcia's reply to that was lost in the general noise of the mall, Fortunately for the delicate ears of the twins.  
Marcia was fortunately able to find the dress in another store, while at the same time, keeping a careful eye on the twins and making doubly sure this time that she paid for the item before leaving the store, then with April carrying the bags, and Marcia, keeping a tight hold of the twins, made for her car and back to the farm to her immense relief.

Marcia was by this time absolutely shattered, so rather than start cooking, she decided to ask everyone what pizza they wanted, and then she ordered Take out.

Later after settling the girls down for the night Marcia and Wyatt wearily climbed into bed, both desperate for a night's rest.

But the Violent thunderstorm which broke out at about 01:30 am had other ideas and three frightened little girls rushed into their grandparents room and piled into the middle of the bed leaving Marcia and Wyatt to balance on the very edge of the mattress then an hour later, April had sat up and was violently ill throwing up her meat feast pizza all over the bed, ( _the Pizza was fine but the bottle of Coke Cola April had guzzled down without bringing up her wind before she ate her pizza, gave extra power and coverage to April's vomit_ )

.

Wyatt and Marcia wearily got up and cleaned the girls up and put them into clean pajamas before Marcia dumped all the bedding and nightwear into a bath of soapy water and then all five, entered Penny's room and got into bed. ( _as the storm was still raging outside. And once again the girls went in the middle and Wyatt and Marcia were perched on the outside edges_ ).

Earlier back in Omaha, Penny & Leonard sat down to eat in the restaurant but though the restaurant was very nice and the food absolutely delicious, Penny just could not seem to relax and enjoy it, and it was exactly the same when they went dancing together later And Leonard could see that Penny's heart just was not in it at all. ( _which for Penny was highly unusual_ ).

Finally Leonard admitted defeat and the pair headed back to their hotel, where Leonard due to over Indulging on the delicious food, had terrible indigestion all night and what with that and Penny snoring like a steam train, got even less sleep than Wyatt or Marcia did back at the farm.

"Come on honey time to get up and go", Penny shouted, and commenced shaking him into the bargain.  
Leonard barely able to open his eyes and feeling his get up and go, had long since got up and went, glanced at the clock, and puzzled at the fact that he had seemed to have slept until the evening as it read 06:15. Then at once, he suddenly came wide awake with shock at seeing Penny washed, dressed and packed, and very eager to return to the farm, at the crack of dawn.

Leonard then wearily washed and dressed with Penny's continual urges ringing in his ears to speed up his progress

Fortunately Penny insisted on driving and Leonard thankfully dozed, and with Penny's driving he would have been very glad indeed that he did not witness her driving because of his slumber, as they say ignorance is bliss.

Finally with a screech of tires, the car ground to a halt in front of the house and a very lively and eager Penny dashed inside to hug her three girls and suggested how about they all went horse riding for the rest of the day, but then Penny became quite puzzled at the complete lack of enthusiasm shown by everyone else.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

 **Oh! to be in England**

Leonard was in a dilemma, He had been invited to give a discourse on his latest Paper, which had generated a great deal of interest among the esteemed members of the international scientific community, at a week long international conference being held at Cambridge University, beginning in a months time,

For Dr Gablehauser had strongly stressed to Dr Hofstadter the prestige and funding that Cal-Tech could gain from his speaking at the conference due to the many top physicists that would be attending.

Also Leonard shuddered at the thought of how the asst head of the physics dept, a one Dr Sheldon Cooper would be sure to react, and no doubt at very great length, inform Leonard of his displeasure, if Leonard, dared to put Penny before His (Sheldon's) departments need of funding.

Later, as Leonard drove home on auto-pilot feeling torn in two. on the one hand he knew if he was away from Penny and the girls for a whole week, He would find it very hard to bear indeed, especially as he had seen so little of her lately.  
But on the other hand so many people were dependent on the large funding that would be generated for the university if he went.

And recent events had somewhat overtaken the couple, not only from Penny's scare.

But also due to the gradual fall off of the viewing figures of the comedy series.

Therefore the producer decided to have Penny added to the regular cast, as Penny's character, being quite popular with the audience, could well push the viewing figures up again, and the decision was made to gradually increase Penny's character into the story line. And now due to spending more time at the studio, Penny found that increasingly she was spending less and less time with her Husband and her Daughters, Penny had, for as long as she could remember, craved the success an acting career would give her, but now she felt as if she was being pulled away from the ones she held most dear and Penny was also hurting as a result that Leonard had so far not communicated to her,over his feelings at seeing less of his wife.

And at that, Penny immediately assumed that Leonard had somehow grown to like seeing less of Penny, which as a result often made her short tempered with him. and so Leonard was beginning to wonder if Penny had stars in her eyes and now craved a totally different lifestyle than her life now as it is with Leonard, while Penny fretted that Leonard was deliberately distancing himself from her, with the result that both of them were unhappy.

As a result of Penny's anguish and despite strong pressure from the studio and her own agent, Penny had held off signing a new contract, As Penny strongly felt she really needed some time to get her head round this awful problem, but she found she seemed to have so little time to do so.

Fortunately earlier that day she was able to have a quiet word with her dear friends Kay and J.G. over Penny's unhappiness.

Kay informed her that J.G. had been offered the part of 'Q' in the new Bond film, and was therefore not renewing his contract with the studio, Kay also expressed her doubts at the Producer's attempt to raise audience figures as it seemed to Kay that He was just clutching at straws, no disrespect to Penny but it wouldn't work as Kay felt that the comedy had just run it's course, besides which there were rumours going around lately that the network was about to pull the plug. "So my dear Penny, there are only three more episodes left of this current run. So take my advice, Go on a little holiday with your Leonard, believe me Penny, I have been watching you, and girl, I think you really need a nice break with your dear Husband you so often talk about.

And Penny as soon as she heard Kay's advice, immediately felt extremely relieved, as at last she had found someone who knew Penny well, and had come to the same conclusion, that Penny had already thought out herself earlier, and now Penny decided that she too would quit after the present series had ended,

As after all, when all's said and done, Acting and fame was great. But her Leonard was worth so much more to her. And at this she smiled, "And now finally, I can have a chance to turn things around", and at that her heart leaped inside her with sudden happiness.

Leonard sighed as he turned into his drive, and braced himself, ready for a very irate Penny hitting the roof when he tells her his news.

On entering his house, Leonard did his usual task of checking through his daughters homework and helping them to understand the cited problem if they have had some difficulty, fortunately for his daughters they took after Leonard for academic ability so his help was not often needed.

Meanwhile Penny, as she busily prepared the evening meal for them all, was mulling over how she could break the news to Leonard over her decision to quit, and wondered what his reaction would be, when he heard her decision to quit.  
Penny called them all for dinner. And while they ate, she related to him first though, how her day had gone. But unusually for Leonard he seemed preoccupied and only answered her in monosyllables. Finally for Penny it was just too much, and she lost her patience with him ( which didn't take Penny long ), and asked outright what was up or was he too busy thinking about someone else, and if that was the case," and at this point Penny suddenly screamed at him hysterically, "that Leonard had better watch out for his life".

Leonard though, already agonizing over how to tell Penny about the conference in England, felt his own anger blaze", For God's sake Penny, you are the only woman in my life, and you are the only woman I will ever want in my life, but I hardly see you lately. And then when I do see you, you are always angry with me. I'm sorry Penny but I just can't take this anymore. I've tried hard to be supportive of your career, but this! This is just too much, I want to see more of you, be with you, and now, if that wasn't bad enough, I've been invited to speak at a week long conference in England.

And I know darn well in myself, that I couldn't bear to go without you, but the university is dependent on the large funding it would gain if I went, as Dr Gablehauser told me at great length, that a lot of people are dependent upon that funding for their research, and I just don't know what to do, honey, I'm sorry, to bring this up, but I do love you so much, and I have tried so hard to support you in your career, really I have, but I don't know what to do, or how I can continue to give my support when it means I hardly see you?", and to Penny's utter horror, Leonard burst into tears because of the emotional strain he had been under.

Penny at once rushed to comfort her husband, as already her own tears were beginning to flow. "It's OK Leonard "We'll all go with you, she declared, hugging him close to her.

"Honey we can't very well take the girls out of school for a whole week", Leonard reminded her.

"Good idea we will go for three weeks then we can have a little holiday too", Penny said, "and after all it will be educational for the girls too", she said brightening visibly at her own suggestion.

"Penny! But what if", Leonard began but was cut off by Penny's no nonsense glare at him "It's settled Leonard, Also I am quitting the series, I so wished my darling that you had said something earlier, But I too am not happy with my life right now".

Penny continued, "The increasing amount of time, that I am spending away from you, well Honey, it's hurting me too, hurting us. I thank you for wishing to see me be successful in my acting career, but I categorically refuse to let it tear us apart like this

"So we'll All go my Darling". And that was that.

And despite the fact his Daughters will not be at school for three weeks, Leonard felt deliriously happy at the fact his beloved Penny, as well as his daughters would be going with him.

Leonard confirmed his intention to attend the conference, to the great delight of Dr Gablehauser, while Sheldon was already writing his list of requirements for Dr Gablehauser to immediately rubber stamp, ( _Sheldon as usual assuming that any given approval would be a mere formality_ ), while Penny spent all her free time on the net looking at sites to visit I:E. Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace and for Penny, Oxford street and Carnaby street and also Portobello road. And trying to get her head round the exchange rate between dollars and pounds.

Penny had been able to obtain the necessary permission for the girls to be taken out of school for the trip to England by informing the Pelican, the girls Headmaster, Dr Peregrine Leyton' Jones PhD, that their own father, Dr Leonard Hofstadter PhD will be able to teach them according to their individual curriculum while they're away. ( _if he has time that is. Penny thought to herself, and unlike Leonard, not being too overly concerned over her conscience regarding her Daughters education_ ).

When Beverley Hofstadter was told about the England trip, though she said nothing to Leonard or Penny, her eyes betrayed her sadness at not being able to see her beloved granddaughters for over three weeks, as Beverley loved to come round twice a week to see them, or they would go to see her, Penny smiled inside she could do with an extra hand with her girls and it will certainly give Leonard and herself more time to be together.

And Penny was determined to be there for Leonard's speech but knew the conference would be filled to capacity and it would be unlikely that her girls would be allowed to join the delegates in the audience. and here was a willing babysitter and close friend she could trust.

"Would you like to go with us Beverley", Penny asked her.  
Beverley's broad smile answered her.

'Good', thought Penny, now all I have to do is get Leonard to add one more when he books the flights. And when Penny told the girls they squealed their delight that Grandma Beverley was going too.

In spite of Penny's optimism, Leonard was doubtful, The flights would be no problem but the hotel could be, With nearly 600 eminent delegates attending, the hotels in Cambridge would be pretty full, and the conference organizers were only booking for the delegates, so Leonard prepared himself for a long time on laptop and phone and settled himself in his chair then after an hour without result had to move laptop and phone for Penny to sit on his lap for a much missed cuddle.

Leonard explained to her about the difficulty with finding a hotel and Penny suggested staying in a pub as she remembered a waitress at the cheesecake factory who went for a romantic break with her husband and they stayed in a lovely old thatched pub in Hampshire? or was it Yorkshire?, Penny couldn't quite remember. "I'm sure you'll find something", she said to Leonard, smiling her encouragement.

Leonard did not want to sound churlish by pointing out that her friend had only needed to book for two, whereas he was booking for six, so he tried for another half an hour looking at pubs before luckily finding rooms in a public house in a little village just outside of Duxford a small town a few miles from Cambridge.

The plan was that when they landed at Gatwick they would take a minibus taxi which would then take them to their lodgings at Duxford, But though their flights arrived on time the M25 known unofficially as the biggest car lot in England was true to form today, As due to a bad collision involving an articulated lorry and two cars that had occurred near Junction 25, had blocked two lanes of the anti-clockwise direction so that they were stuck for some time on the M25 (Angela's jokey comment "that that was bound to happen if they drive on the wrong side of the road as they do here", received a hard stare from the driver, much to the embarrassment of Penny, who also gave her daughter a hard look.

But what made it worse was that the elderly driver who although being a bit dotty and the father in law of the taxi firm owner, was standing in for a driver who was off sick.

He was also a dedicated fan of the old Music hall acts of years ago and insisted on singing some of the songs as he drove. ( Even years later Penny could still remember a line from one song he insisted on singing a few times " _Wiv a ladder and some glasses you can see the 'ackney marshes if it wasn't fer the 'ouses in between_ ") .

Therefore to say they reached The Rose & Crown with relief after 3 and a half hours of the drivers renditions would be an understatement.

The interior of the Rose & Crown was not much different from any other public house in England, wooden tables and chairs and a dartboard on one wall opposite the bar.

They were shown to their rooms by the landlord, Mike ( a retired fireman from Leyton in London's east end) and on entering they all collapsed into bed completely and utterly exhausted.

The next morning they unpacked, and that afternoon while Beverley explored a little of the English countryside as well as the local store, with the girls, who were absolutely delighted with the large bars of Cadbury's dairy milk chocolate their gran had purchased for them. Leonard and Penny meanwhile, walked hand in hand up to the bar and tried the English beer. It was a strange sight indeed for it was Penny who was holding the pint mug of London Pride bitter, while Leonard held only a half pint glass of the same.

And after Penny had consumed 4 pints of London's best, Leonard helped a, by now, very tipsy and still jet lagged Penny up to their room.

They lay on the bed and Penny despite her slight inebriation relished having her husband by her side and turned to lay on top of her soulmate, who was just at that moment thinking to himself that things were getting very interesting, when Penny began to snore loudly in his right ear. So he gently moved her to the side of the bed and dozed while holding his wife close to him.

At 7:15 That evening Leonard awoke and on finding Penny still deep in the land of nod, went downstairs to the bar where he saw that Beverley and his girls were already eating at one of the tables in the corner. So he went to the bar and ordered a coffee from the barmaid who Leonard learned later was Mike's 21 year old niece, Andrea, who was studying Physics at Cambridge university and working as a part time barmaid in her Uncle's pub. And on her discovery that this was The Dr Leonard Hofstadter PhD, who had not only worked with Hawking on the North Sea expedition to find evidence of Unruh radiation , but had also been invited to speak at the international conference on his latest paper. Which currently had all and everyone associated with physics very excited indeed.

And thus so impressed was she, that she then proceeded to flirt outrageously with him.

So this therefore was the scene that greeted Penny when she finally surfaced.

Penny manfully controlled herself from over reacting and going over and slapping the bitches face hard and just stood and observed for a while.

It quickly became quite apparent to Penny that Leonard was at first, totally unaware that he was being flirted with and when he did finally realize the situation he was in, Penny was pleased to note the look of extreme discomfort that had replaced the friendly one on his face, and Penny took it as her signal to intervene.

At the sight of his wife Leonard's face lit up with a huge smile, a mixture somewhat of relief and happiness on seeing the one he loved most of all, leading Penny to observe to herself ' _He didn't smile like that at you, did he you bitch_ ', "Hi Honey", she said to Leonard, as she kissed him in greeting. "Hi Penny, are you feeling a bit better?", Leonard asked her holding her tightly against him.

"Much better now sweetie, thank you", she said hugging him back.

"Penny, I'd like to introduce you to Andrea,Mike's niece. She's also studying physics at Cambridge university".

"Hi Andrea pleased to meet you", Penny said thankful that Leonard's special smile towards her had enabled her to smile at Andrea, without too much of a strain on Penny's part.

"What would you like to eat?", Leonard asked her, handing her the menu.

"I'll have a coffee first, that beer is much stronger than I thought. And I'll have the steak and ale pie please honey" she replied, then looking round for a table she picked one near her daughters and sat down.

Leonard gave his order to Andrea after selecting the pie for himself too and sat down with Penny and watched his daughters as they ate their dessert..

Andrea brought their meals over with two coffees and they began to eat.

"What was the green stuff, it was delicious?", Penny asked Andrea when they had finished their dinner.

"they're Brussels tops, just like you have just discovered, I always think they're a lot tastier than cabbage, yet they are hard to get sometimes". Penny wondered at her, why such a beautiful young girl would want to flirt with Leonard, Penny just could not understand, so Penny carefully asked her "I understand you've heard about my husband?".

"Oh yes indeed", Andrea's eyes opened wide with excitement , "he's an absolute genius, I've read all about his work especially on the Hawking expedition, and his latest paper, Wow!. You must be very proud of him?", she said her eyes shining in hero worship.

"Oh yes, Leonard is the best, in many ways", Penny replied reminded somehow of how Alex had that same look in her eyes over Leonard over fifteen years ago. Though Penny did love Leonard she could not understand how this girl could act toward him as if he was one of those pop stars that Penny used to collect the posters of and hung them all over her bedroom wall when she was a teenager living in Nebraska. It was certainly most peculiar indeed and Penny just could not get her head round it, fortunately she could trust Leonard, but this girl needs watching she thought. "but then again did not Leonard have Anne Hathaway hanging on his every word, but only because of her love of physics, rather than any physical attraction to Leonard, so Andrea might just be the same, having a great love of physics?.

The next day Sunday, it was, to use a local expression, chucking it down. So a planned trip to London was postponed till the next weekend as the conference would be starting tomorrow. So the Hofstadter family spent a rather boring day cooped up at the Rose & Crown, the only bright spot being that Andrea had gone home for a couple of days. so Penny taught Leonard how to throw darts without breaking the window behind him, while Beverley played domino's with the girls, then Penny joined the four domino players for the afternoon, while Leonard went over the schedule for the conference next week and also to go over his speech which he would present on the Friday afternoon.  
As Penny and the others wrapped up their domino's game, Andrea then appeared back at the pub in high dudgeon, as Penny overheard her talking to Mike, apparently she had got near to St Albans, when the head gasket blew on her car and it had to be towed back to the Rose and Crown by the RAC (they had suggested towing her to the nearest garage but the repair would cost over £800 ( _$1200_ ) and Andrea just could not afford it.

Penny though was a little disconcerted by Andrea's reappearance, but judging by the yellow flashing lights coming through the window from the breakdown lorry in the process of unloading Andrea's car outside, it seemed Andrea was speaking the truth and not just trying to get close to Leonard, but Penny would still be watching her carefully, just in case. Penny, now a woman over 40 years of age and also after bearing three children, possessed a fuller figure than she did back in the days when living at 4b 2011 Los Robles and was therefore feeling rather insecure thanks to Andrea, the exact same insecurity she had felt with Anne, Alex, Priya, Oh yeah and Mandy and this in spite of Leonard showing no interest in the girl at all.

Monday morning dawned bright and sunny and the Taxi arrived to take Leonard to the conference at 07:30 AM, Penny, feeling somewhat sad at not having her Leonard with her today, decided that she would go to London as well as next weekend and planned to look at the shops down Oxford street with Beverley, just to cheer herself up.

And perhaps they could also take the girls on the London Eye into the bargain.

They took a Taxi to the railway station and caught a train for Kings Cross Station, then on the tube to Oxford street station, where Penny and Beverley indulged in some retail therapy ( _which even Beverley highly recommended for stress relief_ ) _._

Then they were dragged by the girls into 'Next' _( they had been told by Andrea yesterday that all the cool clothes were in this place_ ) Penny noted that some of the clothes seemed a little skimpy, very short skirts, tiny crop tops so she warned the girls not to bother picking out any of those, ( _hoping no one would tell her daughters, that these were the very clothes that Penny liked to wear when she was a young woman_ ). and after costing Penny a small fortune they left for the London eye when Honey Marie unthinkingly,looked right instead of left, as she was used to in the USA, in order to cross the road and stepped out in front of a double decker bus, the bus with screeching brakes eventually stopped just four inches away from Honey Marie who was paralyzed with fear.

Penny screamed at the top of her voice, her pallor turned as white as a sheet, and so sure that her daughter would be killed and went into hysterics, and had to be taken to a nearby Cafe Nero, for Beverley to try to calm Penny down mindful of Penny's previous psychiatric history over Leonard and over an hour had elapsed before Penny felt able to continue.

But Beverley took one look at Penny, and decided that it would be better if they made their way back to Cambridgeshire.

And on their return Beverley was proved right as Penny, still in great shock, had to lie down in her room.

When Leonard returned that evening on hearing from his Mother how distressed Penny had got. He immediately went upstairs to her and finding her asleep, but still looking rather pale he lay down with her holding her tight hoping that Penny would not have a recurrence of the breakdown that she had all those years ago.

Downstairs too, Honey Marie was upset at causing her mother such distress and was still quite tearful unable to eat much of her dinner that evening, in spite of Beverley comforting her by telling her "you just forgot to look in the other direction sweetie, that's all", ( _adopting Penny's usual way of addressing people_ ),

Penny to Beverley's concern, was still looking quite pale and had been so badly affected emotionally, that she was unable to go anywhere for a couple of days. And Honey Marie also was still quite despondent in spite of her Mother giving her the biggest hug ever and told her everything was alright, though Honey Marie could not fail to notice how pale her mother looked.

Penny insisted firmly that Leonard must go to the conference despite his determination to stay with Penny, ( _Penny could be quite stubborn when she wanted to be, even now, when she wanted so very much for Leonard to stay with her._ )

On Wednesday, while Penny quietly sat in her room reading. Beverley took the girls to a local wood and picnic area after previously buying them a football ( _Soccer_ ) for them to have a kick around before a picnic afterwards. Then later the girls were absolutely fascinated by the appearance of a hungry hedgehog who although normally nocturnal, had been unable to find much food during the night and was hoping for some better luck this morning. They then spent the rest of the afternoon picking flowers mainly daisies, buttercups and dandelions and April found some small purple flowers with a yellow center on a tall stem to add to her collection, after which they took their flowers back to the pub.

On showing them to Andrea she then warned them that the little purple flowers were deadly nightshade which was highly poisonous and after throwing it into the fireplace onto the fire, she scrubbed April's hands for her to remove any toxins that might still be on her skin. then later she took the girls ( borrowing her uncles car) to MacDonald's as it was usually quiet in the pub on Wednesday evenings, while Beverley went to check on Penny.

Leonard although the subject being discussed by the speaker was interesting, still found it very difficult to concentrate as Penny despite her firm insistence that he must still attend the conference was still only speaking to them mainly in monosyllables with that strange distant look in her eyes, Leonard really believed that Penny was recovered from all that but it seems when either himself or his Daughters were in danger then Penny seemed still unable to cope emotionally when these occasions arose, So after deciding to talk to his mother for some advice that evening, Leonard tried once again to concentrate on the speaker but with the growing feeling of wanting to be with his wife.

Leonard returned to find Penny much improved and as she explained it, "I had been to a very scary place and the thought kept running through my mind, what if the bus hadn't braked and it seems my mind needed a bit of a rest for a little while to recover, but I feel much better now honey", she told him while hugging him tightly to reassure him. And thus feeling very much relieved Leonard led her downstairs to join Beverley for their evening meal together.

Later while Penny was settling the girls down, Beverley explained her theory to Leonard concerning Penny's problem.

"I originally thought that Penny's emotional state was due to her being unique in that in craving love and affection she tried to find it by getting close to all those guys, only for them to maltreat and abuse her.

But now it seems for longer than Penny herself could remember, I suspect she has always been hypersensitive to emotional pain, just as people suffer from chronic pain syndrome in a physical way, hence the emotional barrier she erects to protect herself from that pain, then when she met you she became afraid that because of her love for you, there was a danger that you were able to pass through that barrier and reach that sensitive center and possibly causing her the great anguish that she was trying to shield herself from. Therefore she kept you at arms length, not daring to let you get too close to her, However the time came that her love for you became so great, she had no choice but to allow you to get closer, only to receive enormous pain in her emotional center when she thought she had lost you through your car crash. And as you well know, It was so painful for her, she just could not cope with her anguish, and retreated inside herself with her memories of you to hide from the pain. And now she has your three daughters who have also penetrated that barrier because of her great maternal love for them, so when Honey Marie came so close to being killed, Penny again could not cope with the pain and although she did not enter that protective world in her mind, she still had to withdraw from the world for a little while.".

"So what can I do? tell me please, how can I help her?", Leonard pleaded with her.

"The mind is a complex thing Leonard," Beverley began, and feeling hurt as she saw the pained anguished look on her sons face due to his fear for his wife, " and we can't prevent every incident just as you could not prevent yours, in fact to quote King Solomon, 'Time and unexpected events happen to us all'.

All you can do is give Penny lots of love and support when these events occur, and as you well know your Penny, she would absolutely hate for you to wrap her up in cotton wool.

"Yes you're right there, Penny is fiercely determined to stand on her own two feet like everyone else, but I just find it so hard to see her hurting like that", Leonard replied trying now without success to hold back the tears.

" I had for a long time refused to believe in the absurdity that two people could be described as made for each other

But I have been forced to acknowledge that in yours and Penny's case this is true, Penny greatly needs your love and in turn this would give you a great power to cause her pain, but I well know that you would rather die than ever cause her hurt", She then added, "do you remember when I told you that your Father and I had a good deal more going for us than you two?", Leonard nodded.

"Well it seems I was so wrong, I have never seen a stronger bond between two people than I see between Penny and yourself", Beverley told him truthfully.

Beverley then hugged her son, so proud of him, that despite her foolishness in the way that she had raised him, she had to admit, Leonard had turned out to be a very fine caring human being.

Again in spite of Leonard insisting he would stay with Penny, Penny was even more determined for Leonard to go to the conference, even though she would not admit to feeling so vulnerable without Leonard beside her. So while Penny continued to rest, Beverley hired an MPV for the day and as Beverley was afraid to try driving on the right, she paid Andrea to drive for the day and they took the girls to Audley End, where a miniature railway ran through the woods with some fairy trails for younger ones to follow near Saffron Walden in Essex. ( _The three girls liked the train and the woods but turned their noses up at the fairy trails feeling that they were far too grown up for such nonsense_ ).

Penny became bored with just sitting in her room reading and decided to take a short stroll outside where from a lock-up garage she found Mike in the process of repairing Andrea's car. At first they shared some small talk while Mike drained the coolant, soon, it was as though Penny was back at the farm in Nebraska helping her Dad to fix tractors as she removed the alternator, then after unbolting it, she pulled the inlet manifold clear and then passed Mike the spanners for him to remove the exhaust manifold before helping him, after removing the cylinder head bolts, to lift the cylinder head clear (after many taps with a mallet to free it from the engine block. After which Mike then cleaned himself up and took the cylinder head to an engineering workshop to be skimmed.

Penny cleaned her hands as well as she could with the aid of a jar of Swarfega before taking a bath and throwing her oil-stained clothes in the bin. But feeling so refreshed and rejuvenated from the experience despite the ache in her back and arms. (Al _though she was rather upset at the sight of her chipped and broken fingernails_ ).

Leonard returned that evening, and to his utter delight, to a Penny bubbling over with excitement, rapidly telling him about her assistance in the removal of the cylinder head, to Mike telling her about stories of his grandfather as a fireman in London's East end during the Blitz.. and, as a young boy playing with other boys on a bomb site, when one youngster fell down an old cellar and broke his leg and became trapped. And a young Mike watched enthralled as the firemen pulled the youngster out of the cellar and then was carried into a waiting ambulance , and that was the day that Mike decided he wanted to be a fireman when he grew up.

After which Leonard took Penny out to a restaurant. Just for the two of them to enjoy some quality time together. ( _though Penny hoped not too many people in the restaurant had noticed her 'mechanics' hands, and also that she was bare legged having laddered two pairs of tights on her rough hands earlier while getting changed), during the meal Leonard admitted feeling guilty at his act of forcing Penny to quit her acting career._

 _But Penny reminded him, "do you remember the occasion, when I found out you had been invited on another expedition to find Unruh radiation, I lost my cool to a great degree over that, but you had turned it down because we were now your priority and you could not see how going on that expedition could possibly benefit Us", Penny explained, before adding, "well my darling I have only done the same as you, my acting career was hurting us and it had to go. So Leonard for both of us the Family Hofstadter has ultimate priority in every decision we make, so Honey, you did not force me to do anything, my family will always come first", and she took Leonard's hands in hers and smiled lovingly at him._

Leonard, on their return back to the pub, paid the taxi driver and included a tip and they walked together towards the Pub.

Leonard, became aware that Penny was holding his arm rather tightly, indeed more so than normal, and turning to her, and asked her if she was OK? Penny grew angry with him with his continual fussing and at the stricken look on his face began sobbing into his shoulder, Leonard said nothing but held her and stroked her hair till she stopped crying. "I'm sorry Honey", she said, "I do love you, it's just that I'm struggling with normality at the moment and you keep asking me if I'm alright keeps reminding me I am not", but inside Penny was also angry with herself for she knew full well, it was Leonard's gentle caring nature that made her fall in love with him in the first place

Penny threw her arms around him and began kissing him by way of an apology, but as usual for Penny it just triggered her need to feel his warmth, his skin on hers, even the aroma of his scent. suddenly Penny could not wait to get to her room, she badly needed Leonard inside her now, and they proceeded to make love against the wall outside. ( _They had continued their custom of not restricting their lovemaking to the bedroom believing that it kept their marriage fresh and alive, but even so, Penny was always very careful that they were never observed by others as Penny could never bear the embarrassment it would cause Leonard also their love was for them alone_ ).

Andrea alerted by the strange noises outside her window ( _which Penny had failed to spot, it being in dark shadow_ ) went to investigate and from her vantage point with the moonlight shining on him, she saw the utter look of adoration on Leonard's face as he moved back to look at his beautiful wife. Andrea realized at that very moment, that Leonard was totally and utterly in love with his wife, Penny.

Friday began with every promise of being a beautiful day, a day which normally Penny would be loathe to spend cooped up in a large assembly hall listening to scientists talking about things she still struggled to understand.

But today was the day Leonard would stand and deliver his discourse to top scientists from all over the world and Penny was determined to be there for him.

Beverley was looking after the girls for them, which made things so much easier for Penny to deal with emotionally, knowing that her daughters were with someone that she knew well and trusted.

The morning was just as Penny feared but she was able to bear it by holding Leonard's hand through most of the sessions, which always made her feel more secure and calmer in herself.

Then at 14:30 in the afternoon Leonard was mounting the platform steps to deliver his discourse.

Penny could barely contain her butterflies let alone keep still, although she still could only understand a quarter of what Leonard said, the fact that he was given a standing ovation for his address, told her Leonard had done very well indeed,

then Leonard took some questions and one Journalist covering the conference asked Leonard , "what has been your biggest inspiration Dr Hofstadter?".

In answer Leonard beckoned Penny to take her place at his side, which she proceeded to do and her tear filled eyes grew as wide as Andrea's as standing there on the platform being held tightly by Leonard in one arm, as he told the Journalist the fact that he could never have any success in his research if it wasn't for the support and inspiration of his beloved wife Penny, at which a whole host of eminent scientists applauded them both.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

 **A Holiday Romance**

Penny woke that morning feeling a million dollars and on top of the world after Leonard, the previous evening, had declared his thanks to her, his beloved wife Penny, for her valued support in front of 600 top scientists, "My god, and there I was thinking last month that he was not bothered about seeing less of me?", and despite her experience as an actress, Penny still found her legs shaking, as she climbed the steps to join Leonard, and at the tumultuous applause, she just could not stop her tears, She was so overwhelmed by their high regard and esteem for her Dear husband and after they had descended, someone had handed Leonard a sealed envelope, which Leonard passed to Penny, for her to to hold for him, then for the rest of the time she went, lovingly holding tight to her Leonard's arm, and going from scientist to scientist thanking them for their kindness then while they were on their way to greet another, she laughed delightedly as Leonard whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, they're more afraid of you". Then on their tired but happy return back to the Rose and Crown where She suddenly realized she was still holding the letter and handed it to Leonard to open.

The letter read as follows

To my esteemed colleague Dr Leonard Hofstadter PhD

Dear Doctor Hofstadter

I had decided to retire from the chair as head of the Physics department a month before this conference in England. and I took the liberty of recommending that you Doctor Hofstadter succeed me and it is to my great pleasure to inform you that my suggestion has been met with unanimous approval from the board of governors.

We feel that not only because of your valuable contribution to physics over the years but also as a dedicated family man with a beautiful and clever wife and three pretty daughters. That you are just the image we want to have, to take up the chair as head of physics here at Cal-Tech.

In the face of Dr Sheldon Cooper you may not thank me but if I can recommend Dr Howard Wolowitz PhD as your assistant this should make things go more smoothly for you as he seems to be able to handle Dr Cooper better than any of us put together.

I bid you every success in your new assignment, and now I say, Au Revoir.

Dr Eric Gablehauser

your colleague and friend.

Leonard, dumbstruck handed the letter to Penny, who, after reading it, became just as speechless as Leonard.

Hence the reason for Penny's excited state this morning added to that their holiday was starting today, as Penny would have her whole family with her and while thinking of one particular and very special member of that family she turned to him then sliding her left leg between his legs, she began kissing him passionately and got herself totally excited another way.

Leonard even though woken up by Penny's kisses, promptly threw his arms around her, so happy to share some quality time with his beautiful wife.

Later, while on the train to London, Leonard was sitting there and mulling over the contents of Dr Gablehauser's letter, when he suddenly sat bolt upright as the realization hit him at the unpleasant task, he would have to carry out.

It was not the task of chairing the physics department of Cal-Tech that worried him, it was the fact that Dr Gablehauser running out of ideas on what on earth he could do with Dr Sheldon Cooper, and had hit on the idea of appointing him as assistant head, and hoping that the extra responsibility on Dr Cooper's shoulders might make him to be a more rounded out individual. But in reality Dr Gablehauser had created a monster and now Leonard had been given the task of removing Sheldon and replacing him with Dr Howard Wolowitz, and the thought of facing an indignant Sheldon Cooper, brought him out in a cold sweat.

Fortunately he still had two weeks with his family before then and Leonard felt there was really no point in worrying about it now. And Leonard turned his thoughts back to earlier that morning. When the series had demanded more of Penny's time, these precious together moments had become increasingly infrequent and when it did occur it just didn't feel the same for Leonard. But that morning, Wow, it was so special Leonard felt like turning cartwheels, at once again experiencing that wonderful feeling of the tender closeness between Penny and himself. So much so that the couple became like courting teenagers throughout the rest of the holiday.

Which prompted Honey Marie to ask her Grandmother, if her Mom and Dad were OK?, and was reassured by Beverly that things between her parents were just as they should be, and Honey Marie was told to think herself lucky that she had a wonderful Mom and Dad who loved each other very much.

Beverley then asked them all if they wouldn't mind if she could stay at the pub as she was feeling a little under the weather today, so therefore it was just Leonard, Penny and the three girls that were going up to London today.

Their first point of call, was at Trafalgar Square where the three girls were more interested in the lions and especially the fountains, rather than the historical significance of the person represented by the statue in the center, high above them.

And Penny was immediately reminded of a line of another song their taxi driver from Gatwick had sung.

"I live in Trafalgar Square with four lions to guard me, pigeons and sparrers all over the place"

They then walked down towards Whitehall and Downing street which was the home of the Prime Minister.

Angela whispered in an aside to her Mom "Our President's house is much nicer, couldn't the English buy the Prime Minister one like that then?". "I think the Prime minister likes living there honey", Penny whispered back. They walked back past the Cenotaph and when Leonard saw it, He shook his head sadly thinking of the same memorials in the USA, and the huge amount of blood that was shed by people on both sides of the Atlantic, and all to try to gain peace.

Tiring of walking, they decided that it was time for dinner and tried one of those Angus steak houses. ( _Penny even now still insisted that she was a vegetarian except for steak, burgers, Kung po chicken and barbecues and KFC and etc., etc._ ). In the afternoon, it was more walking, with a tour round the Tower of London and when the girls heard that it dated back to the 11th century with King William 1st, April asked, "is it the oldest thing in England then?", while Leonard informed her that Stonehenge which dated to about 2500BC was probably the oldest and he promised to show April a photograph on his laptop that evening.

Penny then had a fit of the vapours as she gazed at the crown jewels thinking wouldn't the Koh-I-Noor diamond look good as a pendant round her neck while other diamonds would look so good as rings on my fingers and perhaps a gold bar or two on my dressing table for ornaments, in fact so wistful was the look on Penny's face that Leonard whispered to her, "Sorry honey, much as I'd like to buy them for you, I just can't afford them", to which Penny demanded, "What!, so you don't think I'm worth them?, you just don't love me any more do you Hofstadter?", she said, pretending to be outraged.

Leonard told her from his heart, that she was worth more than all the jewels in the world to him and kissed her.

"You flatterer", she said smiling at him, "nice save Hofstadter".

Then they stopped at the site at tower green where Ann Boleyn, Catherine Howard and Lady Jane Grey were executed. The girls took great morbid interest at the bloody accounts of the executions. But Penny shuddered thinking of Lady Jane Grey who was only 16 years of age when she was executed.

Finally footsore and weary it was time to head back to Cambridgeshire.

As the train pulled into Duxford, Leonard took the girls bags and their souvenirs a teddy bear dressed in the uniform of the Coldstream Guards, another dressed like the Yeoman of the Tower and a red telephone box and three toy Routemaster double deck buses.

Penny feeling tired herself and with her own souvenir, a Union jack canvas bag over her shoulder, woke the girls with some difficulty and all shivered as they stepped from the warm carriage, and reluctantly into the chilly night only to have to wait 30 minutes for a taxi.

As soon as they entered the pub the girls rushed for their beds only to be diverted with much protesting, to the bathroom by Leonard to wash and clean their teeth.

Penny meanwhile had wearily entered the public bar in search of Beverley, and suddenly stopped short in shock.

Beverley and Mike were sat close together at the table, deep in conversation, And they were holding hands!.

Penny was suddenly wide awake. "It's nice to see them isn't it", said Andrea from behind her.

"My uncles been so incredibly lonely now ever since my aunt died two years ago. The Rose and Crown was to be their dream for when he retired from the London fire brigade but after only three months after they arrived my Aunt suddenly died. And since then he has just completely lost interest in it now", Andrea added, giving him a sad smile.

Later that Night, Mike said goodnight to old Harry and then locked up for the night. Then, as he washed Harry's glass, he considered his situation. Although they had only known each other for a few days Mike, to his surprise, realized that he had strong feelings for Beverley and Beverley had told him earlier that she felt exactly the same.

He thought back to of their conversation with earlier.

"Mike, I know we are from totally different backgrounds and even more so, totally different countries. But I believe, that we have so much in common, and I would really like for us to be something more and I would like to know if you feel the same?".

Mike had confessed to her, that he felt the same way, "Hey", he thought to himself, "I could either be like old Harry, In here every night mulling over one pint of beer ( _the old age pension never stretched to much_ ), ever since his Missus had to go into that care home. Or I can take a chance and see what happiness there is down the old frog & toad with Beverley. And Mike decided there and then, he would take the chance.

"Leonard, when did you realize that you were in love with Penny?", Beverley nervously clasping and unclasping her hands, asked of him the next day.

"It was the day she moved into apartment 4b, when I first saw her the butterflies in my stomach immediately started doing aerobatics and my hands started sweating and I felt so nervous and could barely speak. But I just knew in my heart that she was the one, She treated me like a fellow Human Being , instead of looking down on me, like all the hot girls I met would usually do . Trouble was I just could not believe that she would ever be interested in me as a boyfriend, so for a long time I was just too afraid to ask her for a date, I couldn't bear the rejection".

"That's what happened when I saw Mike. The butterflies that is. I had never believed in love at first sight, and I ignored it as just a silly fantasy, when other people had told me about their experiences, as I practiced Psychiatry.

But over these last few days, I have found that I have been absolutely fascinated by everything he does, and I find in myself, that the only place I want to be is wherever he is. So is that love Leonard?", she asked him, still wringing her hands.

"Didn't you feel the same with dad?", Leonard questioned.

"Don't get me wrong I liked your father very much, but no I had never felt like this before?", she explained "I admired your father's intellect greatly and I suspect our admiration was mutual, but it was never like this, in fact I doubted that You and Penny would last together, but I was wrong, for I have seen that the love you two have for each other is incredible. And now I very much want to experience that love for myself", she added.

"Then I guess it's love", Leonard stated simply, "Does Mike know how you feel?"

"He knows I have strong feelings for him but I wanted to see what you thought before I started making plans with him, like will I move here or will he come to live in Pasadena?, all these things we will have to discuss together". Beverly answered.

"Well then,", Leonard smiled encouragingly, " I guess you had better find him and start discussing your future plans together, I am so pleased for you", Leonard told her.

Beverley smiled shyly, stood up and hugged her son, feeling so happy and grateful for his support, then she went to find Mike.

Penny, despite Leonard giving his approval was worried, Beverley had been forced to face through her loneliness, her emotions, And becoming a much more warmer and kinder person as a result. And if Mike was possibly, just stringing her along, Beverly would be very hurt indeed and could regress back to the cold analytical person, that she was before. And Penny had grown to love the new Beverley very much.

Therefore Penny badly needed to talk to Mike, and Mike, she had heard, had just received the cylinder head back from the engineering workshop.

And Penny decided, it was time She returned to her mechanics career.

Penny rushed upstairs and changed into the cheap jeans and sweatshirt she had purchased from a local shop, then she quickly made her way round to the garage, where Mike was just about to begin, and wordlessly, handed her a pair of overalls he had found and while Penny donned these, he removed the protective oilcloth covering the cylinder block

They worked together in silence for a while until it had reached the stage to refill the radiator with fresh coolant, then Penny took the opportunity to ask Mike how things were going with Beverley.

Mike confessed to her, That earlier that day Mike had slipped out furtively to Cambridge and had purchased an engagement ring, "I know you may think I'm stupid and just rushing into things", he began, "You see since my wife, I had no desire whatsoever, in meeting anyone romantically at all, until I set eyes on your mother in law, and then suddenly I found that I just wanted so much to know everything about her, and then the icing on the cake, finding out that she cared for me just as much as I care for her, So I regard my intention to ask her to marry me just seemed the natural, logical and right thing to do", Mike explained

Penny felt like turning handsprings in the tiny garage as she saw that his eyes matched his words, "I'm so happy for the two of you, but FYI, don't mention 'logical' to Beverley, as I am sure she would like the most gushy romantic proposal ever", Penny instructed.

And later that evening Mike got down on one knee and tremblingly holding the ring he had purchased earlier, he asked Beverley, in the most romantic manner possible, If she would condescend to marry him, and a quite emotional but very happy Beverly said, "yes, yes please".

It had been decided between Mike and Beverley that Mike would sell the pub and move to Pasadena where he hoped his knowledge over the years in the London Fire Brigade would help him gain part-time employment inspecting premises and ensuring they were being compliant with fire regulations and advising them of any changes they would need to put in place if necessary. So for Beverley and Mike, the rest of the time for them was spent in getting a special marriage license and also ascertaining from the American embassy, the legal hoops required to enable Mike's emigration to the USA.

Three days later, Mike took all the Hofstadter's to see where he grew up in the East end of London

On emerging out of Walthamstow central tube station they headed for the street market in the high street where to Penny, it was just like a scene from one of her favourite movies, 'Notting Hill', and was half expecting to see Hugh Grant walking through the market, where a fruit and veg stallholder was shouting out the prices of bananas and cox's apples to shoppers passing by.

On a clothing stall Beverley gasped as she saw the perfect dress for her forthcoming wedding to Mike and carefully purchased it without Mike seeing.

After shopping for a couple of hours Mike took them to a traditional place for cockney fare 'Manze's' for pie, mash and jellied eels. Mike revealed that he had tried the jellied eels in Southend on-Sea once but he quickly decided he did not like them. The girls scrunched up their faces in disgust at the thought of eating eel pies, but were mollified when Mike told them that the pies were steak and kidney ones. Leonard meanwhile was reading the reading the Hymn list, 'Double pie, mash and liquor...£3.00, was puzzled and asked Mike why did they pour alcohol on the food. Mike explained quietly so that the girls didn't hear, was that the liquor was in fact made up from the water they used to boil the eels and added parsley, seasoning and thickeners to it, making a tasty gravy. Penny was puzzled at the bottles of vinegar on the tables and was told by mike that it was the usual thing to put vinegar on the pies, but she was stunned to see the interior was still as it was when it was first opened in the 1920's and quickly made mental notes how she could incorporate some of the tile designs in her interior design business, and she was especially delighted with the original wooden settles, that furnished the seating area.

Mike couldn't be sure if they liked their meals, or had only eaten them, just to be polite, but as his eyes were mainly on his Bride to be, he didn't notice Penny was wolfing hers down, while Leonard liked his just as much but displayed a little more decorum than Penny.

When they had finished eating, they left Manze's and began to walk back up the market towards Hoe street and then with the girls starting to tire, they turned and made for the tube station and then back to Cambridgeshire.

Back at the pub, Penny and the girls tried the cox's apples they bought at the stall earlier and between them they quickly polished them off so when Leonard went to try one he was disappointed to find there were none left, so Penny had to promise to buy more tomorrow.

Beverley enjoyed the visit back to where Mike grew up as it made her feel closer to him by telling her of his life growing up in London's East End, and also, because she was visiting a part of London tourists rarely saw.

The next day Leonard and Penny took the girls to the natural history museum in South Kensington London, while Leonard would have liked to have nipped next door to the science museum, but Penny kept a close eye on him, "He's not going to leave me alone with the girls if I can help it", she thought. The girls were particularly excited to see the dinosaur skeletons and Angela to the concern of Penny took exceptional interest in the shrunken heads of the native South Americans. "I'm beginning to think Angela has been in Emily's company a bit too much", Penny commented to Leonard.

So this was the pattern they settled into, they would spend one day in Cambridge, and the next day further afield, and to Leonard's delight they went on a visit to the Science Museum which as she expected was very frustrating for Penny, as Leonard insisted on reading every exhibits description and so it took them ages to get round the museum.

On the Wednesday evening, Penny went with Andrea to Tesco's supermarket to pick up the food for the wedding on Friday. And as they were exchanging a trolley with a wonky wheel for a good one, Andrea spoke up, "I saw you". Penny puzzled, "Where?", "the other week outside the pub about 11 at night", Andrea added.

Penny clasped her hands to her mouth in embarrassment as the realization struck her what exactly Andrea was referring to, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know anyone was there", Penny apologized, and blushing to the roots of her hair.

"It's OK, I needed to see it, you see I'm ashamed to say I flirted with your husband the day after you all arrived, I was so star struck by him you see, but I saw the look on his face when he looked at you and I could see quite plainly that he loves you so very much. I'm sorry for flirting and I'm glad I saw how he felt, and the bonus is that now I know, if I ever am lucky enough to meet a man that looks at me the way Leonard looks at you, I'll snap him up immediately", Penny smiled, "Apology accepted Andrea and welcome to the family for tomorrow", then Penny gave her a hug.

The Thursday was taken up by preparations for the wedding on Friday, Mike tried on his suit, he had had it for years but found to his annoyance that it had long ceased to fit him, so he rushed out with Leonard into Cambridge to buy another.

Andrea cooked all day for the little reception they would be holding here in the Rose and Crown while Beverley and Penny had gone to the local salon to have their hair done for tomorrow. While the girls amused themselves outside with the football ( _soccer_ ).

That night Mike stayed the night with old Harry, who was glad of the company and pleased to be asked to be best man by Mike.

The next morning was all panic as the women rushed here and there getting ready while Mike and old Harry made their way by Mike's car to the register office in Cambridge, while the Women and Leonard made their way by the MPV that Beverley had hired the week before last.

Leonard and Andrea stood as witnesses, Penny just could not stop her tears and finally Mr Mike & Dr Beverley Jones emerged from the Registry office.

The reception though a quiet affair was a pleasant one, Old Harry that night got more than one pint of bitter, ( _So did Penny, five pints of London Pride this time, before she ended up snoring in Leonard's ear again_ ).

The Saturday was a little sad as they flew back to LAX, as Mike had to stay for the sale of the pub and sort out his affairs and also waited for the Legalities to be tied up for his move to Pasadena.

But even though it was a short while, Leonard was saddened at seeing his mother cry so much.

The Monday for Leonard was strange going back to Cal-Tech not to his lab but to the office of The Head of the physics Department in the afternoon there was a little gathering to welcome the new head, Dr Leonard Hofstadter PhD in the canteen and in the spirit of the family image Penny, his Daughters and his very proud Mother were there too. Leonard circled around thanking people for their congratulations when a sudden cry of **'Leonard',** and a flying female marine Biologist greeted him with a bear hug and kissed him excitedly on the cheek. "My you certainly have gone up in the world, haven't you".

"H, Hi Mandy", Leonard greeted her nervously, "long time no see", he added, fearfully looking round for Penny.

At hearing the name, Penny's face grew dark like a thundercloud and she began to head towards them.

Just as Leonard spied Penny rapidly approaching him, Sheldon butted in, "Dr Hofstadter If I can have a moment of your time please it is rather urgent", he said rather stiffly. And with one look at Penny's face, Leonard quickly decided to agree to Sheldon's request and led him to his new office.

"What is it Sheldon", Leonard said wearily, dreading the moment he sees Penny again.

"Sir as you know Dr Gablehauser appointed me assistant head and I have had no peace at all since. I'm trying to do important work and all I get is interruptions from Minions wanting this or wanting that, and I have had enough and I respectfully wish for you to accept my resignation from this post forthwith, Leonard could not believe his ears, all this time he had been in anguish over how he was going to tell Sheldon he was being removed from the post.

"OK Sheldon it is with deep regret that I accept your resignation", Sheldon gratefully assumed his koala face, "Thank you Dr Hofstadter", Sheldon said brightening visibly.

"how about if I appoint Dr Howard Wolowitz to the post?", Leonard asked him.

"A most excellent idea Leonard, that will certainly teach that grease monkey upstart a lesson" and an elated Dr Sheldon Cooper then left the office.

While Leonard had retreated quickly to his office, Mandy spied Penny walking towards her, "So you must be the famous Penny?, we heard all about you on the Hawking expedition from Leonard", Mandy told her.

This brought Penny up short but she quickly recovered her composure, "And you must be the Mandy who gnawed his face off", Penny told her.

"I know he told you, and as he related to me, it seemed you had an exceptional difficulty forgiving him over it, well Penny, did he also tell you he called me Penny?", Penny her mouth agape shook her head.

"Honey Leonard had been so miserable on the boat because he was missing you, so miserable in fact that Geoff, Dr Parker, spiked his coffee and only after Leonard had drunk it could we convince him to party at all, and it was while he was drunk he kissed me, but he was so drunk he thought I was you", "then when he realized he had in fact kissed me, he was so mortified he had cheated on you, which sure did my ego a lot of good, I can tell you".

Penny was horrified, and could only gape at her and then she began to cry.

Mandy quickly took Penny's arm and steered her into an empty office.

"I, I though he didn't miss me at all when I heard him partying when he phoned me, but instead, all the time he was missing me terribly".

"Honey, you're not kidding, I ain't never seen anyone so depressed till I saw Leonard on that boat,

and I swear to you girl, it ' **was'** just a kiss".

Mandy helped Penny to repair the damage to her mascara and left. While Penny went to find Leonard.

Opening his office door she saw him sitting there, He was in fact at that moment thinking what on earth he can say to her that would alleviate her fears, and he nervously jumped when Penny entered, but was absolutely astonished to see that Penny was instead smiling broadly at him with adoration in her eyes.

She turned and locked the door.

"What are you doing?", he asked her nervously.

"Take off your clothes honey", she said unbuttoning her dress, "We are now going to christen your new office.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

 ** **Yearning****

Leonard felt utterly bemused. Never before in his life had he witnessed his mother in such a restless, nervous state as she was currently in right now .

Before she had always been cool, calm and clinically detached. But now she was sitting, standing then sitting, wringing her hands and fidgeting with her wedding ring. And also going for a bathroom break every 10 minutes. And then to make matters worse Mike's flight had been delayed an hour, and now Beverley had deteriorated to the state of a nervous wreck.

Penny, meanwhile had grown tired of sitting in the arrivals lounge and was feeling glad that the girls were at school.

After all keeping Beverley calm was bad enough on her own, but trying to keep her three daughters amused, would have been just too much.

The day before Penny, after searching the net. Had found a recipe for sausage rolls and made a batch to welcome Mike to Pasadena, and then she left them to cool while she turned her attention to working in the garden.

And as Penny was engrossed in her work, her daughters had come home from school and promptly ate half of them before Penny, who had returned to the house to wash her hands, and caught them in the act.

So after Leonard ordered take out and then nipped out to get some more pork sausage meat, Penny had to hurriedly make some more, while thanking the powers that be that she had had enough puff pastry left.

Finally at last the flight information screen showed Mike's flight had landed, and later Beverley at seeing him come through from passport control rushed into his arms, looking more like a love struck teenager than a woman in her 60's, Mike's face just lit up as soon as he saw her and after two long months husband and wife were finally reunited.

Which reminded Penny of those scenes she had seen on T.V. where soldiers coming back from the war would rush to meet their families.

So then, with Penny leading the way, and Leonard carrying Mike's bags, while Mike, his arm round Beverly followed behind.

Later Mike thanked Penny and informed her, her sausage rolls were delicious, Penny beamed at him.

They stayed at Beverley's for half an hour only as Beverley and Mike badly needed time alone, then Leonard dropped Penny off at home then made his way back to Cal-Tech.

Sarah Jeffers had been promoted by Leonard, as he had found her to be most efficient as well as becoming a dear friend to Penny and Himself, So Sarah was now secretary to the head of the physics department and Dr Wolowitz had also settled into his task of assistant head, while Dr Sheldon Cooper enjoyed the exquisite peace, being now free of the interruptions he had craved so much while assistant head, and was continuing his own work in extraordinarily good humour.

A month later and Leonard had gone to Sacramento on a recruitment drive for Cal Tech, and would be away for a night, before catching a return flight the next evening.

But despite being secure in the knowledge that Leonard was traveling by air, a graphic report of a 12 car pile up on the Northbound side of Highway 5, caused Penny a certain amount of distress, and she immediately called Leonard to check he was OK.

Though no doubt some would have thought that Penny was overreacting, however her traumatic experience over Leonard's accident before they had married, coupled with her deep love for her Husband, had markedly affected her outlook on Leonard's well being, hence her reaction.

Thus feeling unsettled she had rang Bernadette who, after discerning Penny's current state of anxiety while Leonard was away, and decided to hold an impromptu girls night at Penny's hoping that it might distract Penny from her anxiety, and to Bernadette's delight, Kay was able to come also that evening, in spite of her busy schedule.

"You know the best thing I love about babies, was when Samuel had been bathed and dressed in his onesie, was his scent, I mean it sounds crazy now but I just love holding him and getting that wonderful clean baby aroma from him, I just found it so soothing", Bernadette told them all as the subject that moment had turned to babies.

"I would just go totally misty eyed as myself and Leonard watched Honey Marie as she slept in her crib, My God it was the best feeling ever", Penny reminisced.

"yes, and I remember when Isaac was just about a year old when he began to give his Dad some sloppy kisses on his face. really, I thought Sheldon would freak out, but I was so shocked when Sheldon just smiled at me and he had tears in his eyes as well, he was so proud of his son, it was so wonderful", Amy too reminisced.

"Wow talking of Isaac, I'd better get back, I didn't realize the time had flown by so fast", Amy noted.

"Yep, you're right, well goodnight girls, this has been great", Bernadette told them all as she rose. As Amy had given her a ride to Penny's.

After seeing them to the car, Penny returned and was shocked to see Kay sobbing.

"Hey sweetie, Why the tears?", Penny asked her, but already having an inkling into Kay's distress as she recalled the subject matter being discussed a few minutes ago.

"Nothings happening, we've both been checked out but still nothing, and listening to you all this evening, just reminded, me how much I yearn to cuddle a baby, to watch Him/Her, sleeping, to have the treasured memories that you all have", Kay sniffed.

"why don't you and J.G. Get away for a while?, Just the two of you", Penny suggested.

"I can't relax in hotels, my beach house is quickly observed by fans and paparazzi alike, really, it's so hard to go anywhere where we can just relax", Kay pointed out.

"I know a place", Penny told her, remembering the cabin by the lake in Nebraska.

"It's out of season now, so it's likely to be real quiet, and if I ask my sister Jan to keep you supplied with provisions, then you need not go anywhere near where the paparazzi or the most persistent fans, might bother you. In fact", Penny revealed, " it's where I fell pregnant with Honey Marie", and to Penny's relief Kay looked up at her, but now with hope in her eyes.

Soon, Penny had arranged for the celebrity couple to stay at the cabin for three weeks, after Kay had finished a series of photo shoots for a fashion house next month.

A month later, and Penny sat at her laptop and printed out some A3 artistic impressions and plans of the bedroom and en-suite of a clients apartment, then made herself a coffee and sat and listlessly scanned through her magazine but finding she was reading the same line three times over and still not taking it in she put it back down with a sigh onto the coffee table.

Penny felt unsettled, and wished Leonard had not gone back to the office, she needed to talk to him, but she just did not know how to bring the subject up.

Penny greatly desired another child, ever since she had spoken to Kay.

And to further strengthen her own longing, she had just completed a nursery for a baby boy, for an expectant client, recently, and the client was very pleased with Penny's design and the high standard of work by Penny's decorators, Kelly and Sandra. And while Penny was there to check for herself if the client was totally satisfied, she asked Penny if she would help carry a new crib she had just purchased, into the newly decorated nursery to see how it looked and there while the client decided on the best position for the crib, Penny felt even stronger, that empty pang of longing as she stood with the client admiring the crib in it's new setting.

At first Penny had just dismissed it as a passing phase, but the desire had grown stronger and stronger as the days passed till she could no longer ignore it, in fact each sight of Sandra who was now eight weeks pregnant or a woman pushing a pram would almost make shed as many tears as Kay did, with the strong yearning, it had become almost an obscure pain.

She was quite sure in herself that Leonard wouldn't think she was mad if she asked him..

But how do I begin to tell him? she thought, Penny just did not know?, "just exactly how do you ask your Husband if he could reverse his vasectomy anyway?", she thought

It was no good, she must tell Leonard tonight, after all, she could still bear a child, she was still only 42 for crying out loud.

Leonard had been married to Penny long enough to know something was up and also long enough to know not to jump in with questions, but to let Penny tell him in her own good time.

She had cooked his favourite meal on a midweek day which tipped him off for a start and her monosyllabic answer to how her day went told him she was mulling over something.

As soon as the girls were in bed, Penny poured them each a glass of wine and sat down snuggled up against Leonard.

"Honey, how would you feel about us having another baby?", Penny asked him, After meditating all day on how she could broach the subject, Penny had finally decided to come straight to the point.

"Well we could go to that clinic where people with high intelligence quotient go to donate sperm if you really really want to have a child, as you are well aware I had the snip soon after the twins were born", Leonard responded.

" **LEONARD NO!** ", Penny shouted at him aghast, "Honey I want a baby with you, Please Leonard I beg you, please", and Leonard was horrified as Penny desperately got down on her knees before him to beg, "People can have a vasectomy reversed now these days". Penny added tearfully.

"OK Penny darling, but please don't ever do that again, I love you, please get up, I'm glad you feel that way about the sperm bank honey. I'm sorry I said about the sperm bank, but I had to make sure you are dead serious about this before we went ahead, but please Penny, I'm sorry, but I can't have another vasectomy again, it was just too darn painful". Penny's answer to that was a squeal of delight as she jumped on her husband and kissed and hugged him so tightly, Leonard had to use his inhaler to recover.

Then she dragged him upstairs for them to practice.

Leonard had the reversal operation three weeks later and was too sore after that for another two weeks.

Penny, still strongly yearning for a child, was very much encouraged by the statistics of an 85% success rate of a reversal operation considering the length of time that had elapsed from the Vasectomy operation.

As soon as the doctors passed Leonard fit as able to carry out all functions, Penny, as soon as they got through the front door of their house, Led Leonard up the stairs disrobing on the way as she went ( _fortunately for the girls, they were at school_ ).

So determined was Penny that a schedule was put up on the mirror of her dressing table marking likely times to make love, when she would be ovulating, and she also purchased a fertility tester into the bargain.

In spite of all this nothing seemed to be happening, then after hearing from an excited and thankful Kay revealing to Penny about her finally falling pregnant during their stay at the cabin, that Penny became more and more depressed and each month that went by without result the worse Penny became and more often she would be crying bitterly into Leonard's shoulder at the onset of each menses.

Finally Leonard decided it was time take another trip to Nebraska for two weeks. As he had become aware that those who greatly desire a child can become so tense it can interfere with conception,

and Penny, like Kay, really needed to come out of her depression and relax.

And as the girls were busy with school work, Beverley and Mike agreed to stay at their house to look after the girls, while Leonard took Penny to her old home.

To try to cheer Penny, Leonard booked them first class tickets on the flight going up, But Penny was terribly down about leaving her girls behind ( _which she absolutely hated doing_ ) and feeling inadequate in herself in her apparent inability to conceive. ( _which was nonsense as she had been checked out and everything was fine)._

So Penny felt more depressed than ever.

Leonard was worried "hang it all", he thought, Penny as always, was his first priority so Leonard defied the Pelican and his school and booked seats for all seven of them to fly up to Nebraska. ( _The girls were so disappointed, they had been looking forward to staying with Mike and Beverley, so this is why Leonard included them on the trip)_

They landed in Nebraska about late morning and were met by Penny's parents with their cars.

Penny collapsed sobbing in her mothers arms and Marcia noting the worried look on Leonard's face, led her to her car with Leonard and the girls while Wyatt after congratulating Beverley and Mike on their marriage, led them to his car and the little convoy set off for the farm.

As soon as they arrived, the farm worked it's magic on Penny and she began cheer up a little, feeling very glad to be back in the place of so many happy memories (of course h _er happiest memory of all was her wedding to Leonard in the barn"_ ) and also feeling a lot happier that her girls had accompanied her too.

The girls took Mike and Beverley by the hand and led them to show Mike their horses.

Penny smiled gratefully at Leonard as hand in hand they entered the farmhouse, then while Leonard sat in the lounge talking with Wyatt. Penny told Marcia in the Kitchen, about her yearning for another baby and her problem in conceiving,

Later Wyatt after talking to his wife was pleased to learn Leonard was still doing his utmost to care for his Daughter. And listened with reddening face at his wife's plan to help the couple conceive.

Marcia put her plan into action that evening about 8:30, Wyatt moved some hay bales into the barn while Marcia made up a bed on top of the bales. Then coming into the lounge Marcia announced that Mike and Beverley would sleep in Penny's old room while the girls would sleep in Jan's old room and, to Leonard and Penny, they would have to sleep in the barn as the other room was in the middle of being decorated.

And as Marcia said to Penny afterwards you could hardly expect Beverley or Mike or the girls to sleep in there could you?.

So later Leonard armed with a flash-light with his wife on his arm, made his way to the barn.

Penny was immediately suspicious to find that the bales had been laid on the very spot they had said their vows over 13 years ago.

Penny now feeling relaxed and laying close to her husband breathed in his scent which always had a powerful effect on Penny as if she didn't crave her husband so much in the first place and soon afterwards they made slow sensual love more enjoying the closeness and the tenderness of each other, than the actual sex. And this was the thing that Penny loved the most not having sex but making love, being held before, during and afterwards by someone who loved you as much as you loved them transcended the cold sex that she mistakenly thought was love before she met Leonard.

Especially when they would kiss each other goodnight and tell each other I love you before Penny spooned in front of and held by Leonard, drifted off into the most restful sleep.

The next day Penny, Leonard and the girls went to go horse riding together after breakfast and as she mounted her horse Penny again felt that familiar twinge she felt just before she conceived Honey Marie in the cabin on the lake and immediately began crying so that a concerned Leonard rushed to her side to see what's wrong and was surprised to see her smiling at him, then Penny, once the girls had ridden on a bit, explained to Leonard why she was crying happy tears, at which Leonard then shed a few of his own.

They spent a happy mornings horse riding then returning and after seeing to the horses they went inside for dinner.

Mike was stunned at the sight of the wide open spaces of the US, far different from cramped London where as a boy, to see a large expanse of grass he would have to walk through the streets of Leyton to either Abbott's or Skelton's lane parks or further to Coronation gardens. It was just a totally different world.

Where until recently Mike didn't even have a passport and the furthest overseas he got before then was the Isle of White on a fortnights holiday camping with his first wife.

This would indeed take some getting used to, but Mike had now fallen in love with the wide open spaces of Nebraska, and the bonus was that he was seeing it all with Beverley.

In the afternoon, While Leonard did a few chores for Wyatt, and Penny sat watching him in between reading her book. While the two sets of grandparents all played games with the girls, Mike had quickly been adopted by the girls after his marriage to grandma Beverley and though Mike and his first wife were never blessed with children he had come to enjoy the girls company almost as much as Beverley.

That evening Penny opened some wine for Leonard, her Mom and Beverley, while she stuck to mineral water for herself.

After a couple of hours Penny kissed the girls goodnight and they went up to bed after kisses for Wyatt, Marcia, Beverley and Mike but had to leave out Daddy as with the wine, the heat from the fire and his exertions for Wyatt earlier he had fallen fast asleep on the sofa.

Penny, snuggled up against him looked at him adoringly and kissed him gently on the cheek.

Finally when it was time for them all to retire, Penny gently shook Leonard's shoulder "Honey come on let's go to bed, and Leonard half asleep and with the flash-light once again made his way with his wife to the barn where he had to wake up and love his wife again but Leonard didn't mind, He did love her very much after all.

In the morning they had just had more of the same as they had before falling asleep the night before.

Penny then lay with her head on Leonard's chest and her leg over his legs, watching the dust particles floating in the shaft of sunlight shining through a knothole in the barn wall. Penny felt as if she could lay like this forever in fact if she was asked where would she like to be most?, it was here, in the happiest place of all with Leonard.

Just feeling his skin against hers was like a soothing balm to her and already she could feel her tenseness evaporating away, it's funny how Leonard always seems to know just what I need,

"The next time I run myself to a frazzle, trying to get the girls to school on time, I shall close my eyes and imagine I'm here", she thought.

.

Though sleeping in the barn was her Mother's idea and Penny had to concede it worked because it was such a happy place for her, that she could never fail to be buoyed up by the memories it conjured up and if she closed her eyes she could still see the look on Leonard's face as she walked down the aisle towards him.

Reluctantly she decided, it was about time for them to rise before they were disturbed by their Daughters and Penny certainly did not want them discovering Mom and Dad laying naked in the barn, no, that would never do.

Marcia, now confident in herself, that things would be OK from now on, decided that that would be the last night Penny and Leonard would need to sleep in the barn.

It was Marcia's Idea to have a hoe-down in the barn on the Saturday night for all the family.

Penny's Sister and husband and their two boys, and Penny's brother, his wife and their son and daughter, and also Pete and Janey Harrison, were also invited as well as a few other family members from the near vicinity, and Marcia had even invited some of Penny's old friends as well.

So for the rest of the week they were all busy getting the barn ready, Marcia hired a local band and Wyatt readied the barbecue and by the Saturday afternoon it was ready.

The guests began to arrive And Penny was busy greeting and hugging family members and a great big hug for Pete and Janey then she became puzzled as three old members of her cheer leading troupe had been invited too.

Sharon Baskin, Della Marshall and Sylvia Casey.

And after talking to them she had learned that Penny's Mother herself had invited them, Penny could not help being puzzled as to the reason why?, as as her then boyfriend Tony Jackson had cheated on her with Sharon a couple of years before she left for Pasadena ( _which had greatly hurt Penny at the time and was a large contributing factor to her being afraid to commit to Leonard_ ).

While Sharon went to the toilet, Penny asked Della and Sylvia how things were going Della told her that shortly after Sharon had married Tony, he had got a job as a truck driver and sadly it was not long before he began having affairs with other women and Sharon divorced him. Though alas not before he had infected her with chlamydia which had left her infertile, Della too was now divorced and struggling to cope on her own with five children, "I guess guys just ain't interested if you've got that much baggage", she sighed.

Sylvia though happily married with two children struggled to cope on her husband's low pay as a farm laborer, "but we manage",she said. And Penny knew well that struggle, unable to count the number of times Leonard or Sheldon to her shame, had to bail her out with money or more often food in order for her to make ends meet.

At this point Sharon had returned.

"How are you doing?, we heard you had married now", Sharon asked Penny.

"yeah It's Great, I have three girls, though two are twins, ( _at this Sharon's eyes began to fill with tears and she quickly brushed them away, but not without Penny's notice_ ) My Husband Leonard is head of physics at Cal-Tech university, while I, when I'm not presenting or appearing on a program on T.V., do interior design for celebrities, so things are really going great now" Sylvia asked which stars she had worked for or appeared with, and their mouths opened wider and wider the more Penny reeled off famous names. Finally with an "enjoy the party", to them Penny left them to get another drink and to find Leonard.

Later while Penny was talking to Janey and Beverley, Pete Harrison and Mike Jones were getting on like a house on fire, and were in animated conversation. Being an ex cop (Harrison), and an ex fireman for the London fire brigade (Jones) their conversation had drifted naturally to 'shouts'

mainly R.T.A's, ( _road traffic accidents)._ when Penny disliking hearing about all the gory details, began requesting them to change the subject, when Beverley stopped her and then motioning for Penny to come with her, Beverley began to explain.

"Let them talk Penny, you see we don't realize the stress these men come under through the awful sights they have to witness, and men in general are not good at talking about their feelings at the best of times, indeed I found out that Mike had had a really bad experience. As far as I can figure it out a school bus was sandwiched between two articulated lorries and somehow it had caught fire".

"Oh my God, did Mike tell you about that?", Penny asked, holding her hands to her face in horror.

"No Penny, that's just it, he didn't. He just called out one night when we were in bed, it was as though he was back at the scene and shouting orders to get the children out, then I saw him sit up and hold his hands over his ears and he was crying". "I have been trying to get him to tell me about it, but he refuses to tell me at the moment, and it is going to take me some time I think, before I am able to help him", Beverley revealed.

Penny could feel her eyes begin to fill with tears at the thought of her daughters being caught up in something like that, and the imagining hearing their screams as the flames crept nearer.

"My God , how do they cope", Penny said, appalled and quickly shutting the mental images out.

"That's just it Penny they don't really, that's why they need to talk it out even like they are doing now, it helps them", Beverley replied.

Leonard had just finished talking to Penny's sister Jan and her husband, he had been dying to know how things were going at the diner, now Pete and Janey had retired and Jan and her husband was now running it, and was the Lake house OK?, as Jan was keeping an eye on the cabin for them

and it was used often as Not only Kay and J.G., but Howard and Bernadette, Raj and Emily or Sheldon and Amy would often use it for a couple of weeks in the summer, also Leonard was using the chat as an excuse to avoid the line dancing that had started, he just could not get his head around when to do the turns. He was reminded of something Sheldon had told him once "if a cowboy had moved like that in the 1870's they would have shot him". Leonard looked over at Penny as she was following the steps with ease her movements in the dance so fluid she just took his breath away. Just then a woman that Leonard hadn't seen before introduced herself as Sharon, and that she was one of Penny's friends from their old cheer leading Troupe.

"Hello, pleased to meet you, I'm Leonard", Leonard told her shaking her hand in greeting.

"Hi, Penny tells me your head of Physics at a university then"?, Sharon asked him hoping that Penny was just making it up to look good.

"Yes that's right, I'm at Cal-Tech in Pasadena, actually it's quite exciting at the moment as we are involved in conjunction with Cambridge university on the study of...", Sharon didn't take anymore in as the conversation had suddenly gone way over her head and realized to her chagrin that Penny had been telling the truth, she had already seen Penny's beautiful daughters for herself, earlier that evening and was now cursing herself over and over in her mind that she had ever stolen Tony from Penny in the first place. For Sharon, this truth was just too hard to bear and she left for home soon afterwards.

Penny watched her leave, no longer feeling angry with Sharon but so relieved that She didn't end up being married to Tony or it could have been Penny instead, leaving a party alone and in a rather distressed state.

Later Penny caught up with her mother, "Mom, why did you invite Della, Sylvia and Sharon, I haven't seen them for years?", Penny asked.

"Well honey, when I went to the mall four days ago, I was looking through the coats on a rail when I heard those three talking and they were ridiculing and laughing at you because you had been dumped by Kurt and was now married to some nerd, so I was not going to put up with their ridicule. So I decided to invite them to the hoe down knowing they would be bound to ask you how you were doing and now Penny,I have a pretty good idea, I don't think they are laughing now".

"you mean they were laughing at me for marrying Leonard?, but he's the sweetest guy I know, that's awful of them".

"Yep I reckon they got the best lesson of all, out of the four of you, you Penny, married the best guy of all", Marcia told Penny giving her a strange look.

Penny came away from her mother with the strong feeling that her Mothers lesson wasn't only directed at the three girls.

Then it was time for the last dance of the evening and Penny as she danced with Leonard thought of the conversation with her mother, You married the best guy of all". she realized then at that moment with her head on Leonard's shoulder that her mother was also warning her not to throw her happiness away. Since that time years ago, that she felt that it was a boring type of love with Leonard and was missing the excitement. Penny often remembered it with trembling at how close she often came to throwing it away back then. A lesson that Penny was always very very careful to keep in mind.

Three weeks later, early one morning Penny suddenly sat up and throwing off the bedclothes rushed into the bathroom and putting her head over the bowl and began calling for her friends Ralph and Hughie ( _as Mike Jones would put it_ ) hugging the toilet bowl for dear life and feeling grateful to Leonard that he had put bleach cleaner down earlier, then after thoroughly rinsing with mouthwash to remove the awful taste of bile, she ran back into the bedroom and laughingly jumped on her beloved Husband, with her eyes shining with happiness, she proceeded to hug and kiss him and all of this while laughing at the same time. ( _Penny had a strong inkling that she might be pregnant, but refused to use a pregnancy testing kit as she knew she would be unable to bear to see a negative result._ )

Penny's pregnancy was confirmed and continued along expected lines.

As She had had regular exercise with yoga workouts, she was as fit as a woman her age could be and had passed all the tests concerned for a pregnant woman her age, finally the time came to find out the sex of the baby, and Penny an old hand by now tensed herself up ready for the familiar cold gel on her bump.

"Yes that's good, good strong heartbeat Mrs Hofstadter you only have one baby this time, Penny breathed a sigh of relief at this revelation.

Now there's the legs and..., congratulations you're expecting a little boy. Penny turned excitedly to Leonard grasping his hand "look Honey, it's Wyatt Leonard Hofstadter. Leonard wiped a tear as he looked at his son "welcome to the family my son", he said simply, then turning to Penny said, "I love you so very much", before kissing her soundly.

Leonard did not object to Penny naming their baby Wyatt as he liked Penny's father a lot, but he had objected to her naming their baby Leonard, as Leonard did not like his name, but Penny told him "Honey please understand, that's the name of the love of my life and our son is the product of that love, so you see that I want that reflected in his name".

Later Penny heard from Kay that she was expecting a girl and she had agreed with J.G. to name her Chloe. Penny loved the name and almost began to wish that she had given that name to one of the twins.

In all her pregnancies Penny had cravings for different foods in each but had the same craving for Leonard's scent in all, so once again Leonard's tops were often to be seen being held by her, against her nose and Leonard knew better than to laugh at her and was very careful not to say anything when she wanted his shirt.

Though it was very hard not to when on one occasion, when Penny was trying to design her little boy's nursery on her computer with one hand and holding Leonard's t shirt up to her nose with the other. Leonard had to rush for the bathroom and shut the door quickly lest Penny heard him giggling.

The girls were thrilled to learn that Mom was expecting a baby brother, especially Honey Marie who had been fretting on having to share her room with a baby sister. ( _although they had another room free, Penny had told her that the twins would create if they had to share and Honey Marie didn't_ ).

And all the girls were excited when Penny included them in buying things for their new brother.

Though Penny had to be a little firm as the girls seemed intent on buying every teddy bear in the shop.

When Penny was midway through her second trimester the Family went to stay at Lake McConaughy. For Penny surreptitiously glanced at Leonard a secret smile on her face as they drove up in the rented Winnebago after several stops on the way at which Leonard had severely tried Penny's patience by again complaining at length at the lack of science magazines every time they stopped, especially when Penny would come out with an armful of her magazines.

Finally Leonard pulled up outside the diner and was stunned to see it had been transformed, dark wood paneling had been fitted around the walls to dado height and there were art prints of the different species of fish that lived in the lake and instead of chairs there were now the high backed wooden settles either side of the tables. ( _Penny had got the idea of the settles from the pie and mash shop in London_ ), with tiling on the front of the marble topped counter the diner looked astounding.

"Wow this place looks amazing", Leonard said looking round in all directions.

"Penny designed it, It's so clever of her isn't it Leonard", Penny's sister Jan informed him.

"It's brilliant", Leonard agreed deeply impressed, receiving the broadest smile from Penny in return.

Then the family made their way to the cabin and Leonard, having been told by Penny to keep his eyes tightly shut and led by her hand, they entered the cabin. "OK Honey you may open your eyes now".

the cabin too had now been transformed, again all designed by Penny and it too was absolutely beautiful.

"I had Sandra and Kelly stay up here and do the work then I gave them three weeks to holiday with their families up here afterwards", Penny explained to Leonard. Leonard smiled took her in his arms and said simply, "thank you Honey, It's wonderful", then he kissed her soundly.

One evening Penny sat her magazine on her lap and looked across at her daughters playing a game on the floor, then she looked down and cradled her growing bump and smiling down at the young Wyatt Inside her, before looking across at Leonard who was reading some reports which had been E-mailed to him by Sarah his secretary from Cal-Tech, at which Leonard, sensing her gaze upon him, and asked her if she was OK?, "I'm fine Honey, absolutely fine", she said smiling at him her green eyes filled with love towards him.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

 **Flu**

"Leonard I'm fine!, please will you stop telling me to relax. I have been through this twice before you know", Penny said feeling a little annoyed with her husband for his fussing.

She had found an excellent method to relax. She would close her eyes and think of their wedding day and the time they slept in the barn together,and other occasions like their redo Prom night, the night they got engaged, and even all the way back when Leonard and herself got back together.

And it always worked a treat, especially the Day when her Daughter Angela landed awkwardly from the vaulting horse at school and broke her leg.

And when the school had rung and told her the details, Penny could immediately feel the panic rise and her overwhelming need to run away from the stress, hit her, but she used her calming method and the feeling of panic gradually left her, so that by the time she saw Angela, Penny felt ready and able to cope with the situation.

Two hours later, little Wyatt Leonard Hofstadter was born and Leonard, after they cleaned Wyatt up and made Penny comfortable and presentable, went to fetch her parents.

"Mom, Dad it is my great pleasure to present your youngest Grandchild, Wyatt Leonard Hofstadter", Penny proudly announced.

They had decided to keep their decision to name their Son , a secret from everyone, as Penny was eager to give her father a nice surprise.

And as Wyatt senior, with tears streaming down his face and hands shaking, took little Wyatt from his Daughter and welcomed him to the family.

Leonard was stunned at how this big man could be so gentle. He was always a little nervous in front of his Father in law, He had seen him wrestle cattle with ease and throw around sacks of corn as though they weighed nothing, And yet here he saw the gentle side of his Father in law and Leonard's nervousness around Wyatt disappeared that day.

Then Wyatt Senior carefully handed little Wyatt Hofstadter to his wife Marcia. Then with an enthusiastic hug for his Daughter he expressed his thanks, and kissed her noisily.

 **Seven months later**

Two days ago the twins had been playing in the garden with their school friend Rebecca, and then when it had begun to rain they had played in the lounge until Rebekah had to go home, if Penny had not been so preoccupied with a fretful Wyatt Leonard, she might have noticed Rebekah's frequent sneezing.

And so it was two days later, that when Leonard awoke to the sound of his alarm, he discovered his Penny was feeling hot to the touch and with a high fever and coughing and spluttering, Leonard rose and collected Wyatt to feed and change him and also to wake the girls for school, only to find the twins in the same state as their Mother.

After seeing to Wyatt, Leonard Phoned Sarah his secretary letting her know he would be unable to come in today and also the twins school informing them of their illness, and regretfully Penny also had to cancel a proposed visit from Kay with little Chloe as well, that Penny had been looking forward to all week.

Honey Marie had decided to go back to bed feeling that as the twins were ill and not going to school then it was only fair that Honey Marie shouldn't have to go either.

After over half an hour of reasoning then pleading by Leonard proved fruitless, Penny feeling dizzy and certainly not in the best of humour and with quite a struggle entered Honey Marie's room and gave her that look, Honey Marie immediately rose and began getting ready for school.

Leonard brought Penny a Honey and Lemon drink and then prepared Honey Marie's breakfast and then deciding he'd have some toast, Leonard reached for the bread and cut off a couple of slices and put them in the toaster. While Honey Marie left for school, and Leonard had gone upstairs to take some medicine to give to Penny and the twins, the toaster instead of popping up jammed as Leonard had cut the slices too thick, and smoke began to fill the kitchen. So that by the time Leonard returned the toast had just started to catch fire.

Leonard hurriedly unplugged the toaster and extricated the blackened toast from the toaster, and burning his fingers in the process, and just as he had put out the flames and opened a window, Penny called him up and on entering their bedroom, she then proceeded to give him instructions for doing the laundry and to give him a list for the supermarket. Leonard took the list and went back downstairs and made himself a coffee, while Penny, with great satisfaction turned over and went back to sleep. Leonard went to Penny's car and got Wyatt's baby seat and installed it in his car then went to get Wyatt only to find that Wyatt needed changing again finally Leonard left for the supermarket and after searching for a trolley with a baby seat on it entered the supermarket and began to shop, only to discover that it took him much longer than he thought, as Penny's list was not laid out in the same order as the goods in the aisles. Leonard thought that it might be helpful if he told Penny to put the list in the same order of the merchandise as it was on the shelves, thus ensuring each aisle was only traveled down once and not backwards and forwards several times.

But wisely for Leonard, he thought on reflection, knowing Penny's temper and her current state, it might be best to not to mention it at all.

Finally Leonard returned and loaded his groceries into the car after putting Wyatt into his baby seat then discovered that he had a flat and then had to change the wheel. ( _Fortunately for Leonard, a very helpful fellow shopper parked next to him quickly showed Leonard what to do, and looked after Little Wyatt while Leonard changed the wheel, and then she left_ for her own home).

Penny woke and feeling thirsty, called for Leonard and after getting no answer, Penny feeling miffed at Leonard's long absence, and with her head still spinning round, she struggled downstairs to the kitchen and got a bottle of mineral water from the fridge. After a few sips she began to feel better then after checking the time she began to fret "Leonard should have been back by now?", and once again the alarm bells began ringing in her mind.

She was just in the middle of doing her calming method when the doorbell rang and thinking it was Leonard she went to open the door only to find Sarah, Leonard's secretary standing there.

Penny groaned inwardly she was feeling like death warmed up, sweaty and wearing only one of Leonard's T-shirts and an old pair of hello kitty pajama shorts and was certainly not ready for visitors.

"I've brought some papers for Leonard to go over", Sarah explained, "He has to sign them today you see" Sarah explained, "how are you feeling Penny?, any better?".

"Lousy and no. Sorry Sarah didn't mean to sound so short but I just feel absolutely awful", Penny woefully admitted.

"Can I help you with anything?", Sarah asked.

"Not unless you've got Leonard in your purse sweetie, no", Penny replied, giving her a little smile, "besides you might catch the flu as well, I would be very popular if I laid Cal-Tech low with it, especially Sheldon", Penny explained, and shuddered, as she imagined the Sheldon Cooper lecture she would receive.

They said their goodbyes and Sarah left, And Penny, wincing at the bright winter sunshine, quickly closed the door.

She shuffled back to the kitchen, put the papers on the table, and started to worry about Leonard and little Wyatt again,"They should have been back an hour ago?", she thought beginning to panic despite her calming method.

At that very moment she heard Leonard's key in the door and through worry she angrily rounded on him as to why he was late?.

"I'm sorry honey I came out the supermarket to find I had a flat tyre and had to change it then I had to go and get the twins comics I had promised to get them, Oh and Jeannie told me Stuart's got this flu too ", he explained, seeing how anxious Penny had got as he was late.

"You?, changed a tyre?", said an incredulous Penny.

"Well a woman who was parked by me, undid the nuts for me and showed me what to do and she looked after Little Wyatt while I got the spare out and then she tightened the wheel nuts for me again", Leonard sheepishly explained.

"Yeah that sounds about right", Penny said shaking her head at him.

Then while Leonard put the shopping away, Penny left to go and change and feed Wyatt.

Leonard then made some coffee and took the twins their comics up to them, and then came back downstairs with April who fancied having some cereal.

"Are you sure you are up to eating that honey. How about I heat you up some tomato soup?". He asked his daughter.

"I'm OK dad, stop being a wuss", April responded.

But after eating just half a bowl of cereal, April suddenly vomited all over the kitchen table and thus all over the papers Sarah had brought for Leonard to sign.

While April left to go back to bed, clutching her stomach and looking quite green in the gills, Leonard cleaned up the mess and made his way to Cal-Tech to get some more copies of the documents from Sarah, while later dropping the flat tyre off at the tyre place, and then he dropped off a couple of Penny's dresses at a dry cleaner's on his way back.

Upon his return he warmed some soup up for Penny and Angela. (as _April couldn't face eating anything at all for some reason_ ).

Then Leonard went back downstairs and sat down and read the documents and signed them for him to drop into Cal-Tech in the morning. He then went upstairs fetched the dirty laundry from the bathroom and after hearing Penny's call for more soup came back downstairs warming more soup on the stove, then and sorting the laundry, then placed it into the washing machine before he then took Penny's soup up to her only to find that Penny had gone back to sleep.

Sighing Leonard took the soup back downstairs and then went back upstairs to fetch Wyatt and after checking him laid him down in his crib. Then Leonard washed the two soup bowls and spoons up by hand, then as he was feeling tired and a little stressed he strolled round the garden for a little while before sitting down in a garden chair and Leonard promptly dozed off.

" **Leonard!** Where's my soup?", Penny demanded shaking him by the shoulder, before running inside the house before anyone saw that she was still wearing her night things.

Leonard sighed again, he did love Penny very much, but boy, when she was ill she could be very hard to cope with at times.

He took her soup up to her and noticing the wounded look on his face Penny apologized, "I'm sorry Honey, but I hate having this flu, and I know I shouldn't take it out on you but I can't help it, it's horrible", she said reaching for the box of tissues , then after noisily blowing her nose and taking the soup bowl from Leonard, she looked up at him and with fluttering lashes she told him in a little girl's voice, "I love you honey, forgive me?".

Leonard smiled at her as the warm feelings towards Penny bubbled up in his heart, he could never resist her for long and kissed her on the cheek.

Wyatt woke for another change and feed and then he was placed on his play mat with his toys while Penny tired of laying in bed sat on the sofa and snuggled up close against Leonard and watched Wyatt playing.

Later Leonard reached for his phone and ordered pizza for Honey Marie and himself, then dozed till the Pizza delivery man came with his order then five minutes later Honey Marie came back from school.

Tuesday evening was always set aside as special time for Leonard and Penny, and they would do something together and Leonard, while he ate his pizza apart from three slices Penny pinched from him, they settled down to watch a movie and tonight it was Penny's turn to choose and she put on the 'Music & Lyrics' DVD as she just loved Hugh Grant movies and Drew Barrymore was a sweetie, and she happily settled down to watch the movie with her head on Leonard's lap only to feel rather disgruntled at hearing him snoring after just 10 minutes into the movie.

"Leonard, Honey, Please, don't fall asleep, I've hardly seen you today", she pleaded.

Leonard roused himself and apologized kissing her on the cheek and then stroking her hair, he tried to watch the movie, before once again falling asleep five minutes later.

Penny looked up at him and now seeing his exhaustion said,"I love you, thanks for taking care of us all honey", while Leonard just snored in reply.

The next day with Leonard once again at home and playing nursemaid, he had changed and washed and dressed Wyatt saw to the twins He vacuumed round the lounge and then went to collect the mail, then took a letter for Penny up to her then went back downstairs to make her a drink.

Penny read her letter again in disbelief.

The letter told her that it was felt that it was considered that perhaps a younger face would be better at fronting their makeover program and so, in that view they thanked her for her services, but they had made the decision that they would not be renewing her contract for the new series.

Penny felt utterly crushed and sobbed brokenheartedly into her comforter. Her dream since she was 12, to be a famous actress had come to nothing, only her brief appearance in the comedy series.

And then the makeover program gave her back her belief in achieving success on TV only for her dream now to be dashed again because of her age. Even though she knew it was coming, as offers of TV work had got less and less over the last few years and had now dried up totally, but that had not been as so painful as seeing it in black and white like that letter. She remembered Leonard's conversation to her on Will Wheaton's podcast years ago, how it had cut him to the quick each time to see her disappointment every time she received a rejection, and she knew too well by seeing it in his eyes how hurt he would become at seeing her distress. "How on earth, was I so lucky to find such a caring guy?", she thought.

She decided that It would do no good to hide the letter, as Leonard knew her only too well by now, to not see something was up, as if her tear stained face wasn't a giveaway in the first place.

Penny sighed, she just couldn't face staying in bed, she knew what she needed right now.

So She collected some clothes from her dresser and Leonard's floor, and made her way to her shower, and afterwards dressed in sweatpants and Leonard's T-shirt,which always comforted her as it had Leonard's scent on it, she went downstairs and not caring about the "Yuk", from the twins she hugged and kissed her husband and held him tightly, burying her face in his shoulder, then feeling devastated she handed him the letter.

Leonard read it and began stroking her back to comfort her, while he thought.

They really could not always take off for Nebraska each time when Penny was down especially now it was in the middle of Winter.

And although Penny had now recovered from the flu, she still felt down over the letter from the producer, and Penny certainly didn't need any more anxiety, but when collecting her mail, and spying Kate, her next door neighbour walking past with her dog, Penny greeted her, and they began talking together, when during their conversation, Kate asked Penny if she liked the huge bunch of flowers that Leonard had got for her, as Kate had driven past at the same moment, that Leonard was just coming out from the florists. Penny, now puzzled, informed Kate that she had not received any flowers lately, from anyone let alone Leonard, at which Kate apologized, "I'm sorry Penny, perhaps I should not have mentioned it, Maybe he got them for his mother?", then Kate,feeling somewhat embarrassed that perhaps she had somehow put her foot in it, so she said goodbye and continued on her way with her dog.

Penny thought for a while about Kate's revelation and then finally brushed it off as a case of mistaken identity on Kate's part, after all she was driving past at the time, and surely if Leonard had bought flowers Penny would have surely received them by now, and he would have certainly told her if he had bought some flowers for Beverley?.

But two days later as Leonard returned home, Penny observed him shutting the trunk of his car as he retrieved his rucksack, that Leonard preferred over a briefcase, and she caught an unmistakable glimpse of a large present covered in bright wrapping paper, and when she asked Leonard what was the parcel, he told her it was just some lab equipment.

Now Penny's mind was unsettled by the two events and she began stressing over things like her figure, as she had been unable to shift the extra pounds she gained while pregnant with little Wyatt, the program makers had rejected her, and could it be just possible that Leonard had rejected her for someone else?.

Penny badly needed to confide in someone and she almost tearfully began wringing Bernadette.

But Penny was left feeling stunned as Bernadette seemed to dismiss her suspicions out of hand, and Penny ended the call feeling more depressed than ever, especially as the next day she overheard the end of a telephone conversation that Leonard had made, "So I'll see you soon, it's so great that you can come, wear something nice, I want this to be special, OK see you, bye", and Leonard ended the call.

"Who was that?", Penny asked him.

"Oh! It was just a friend", Leonard replied evasively.

By the Saturday afternoon, Penny had had enough and taking little Wyatt with her, she drove to the Mall for a cup coffee and some time to think. She decided she really must talk this out with Leonard. For until she did that, she could not decide what to do until then

On her return she was greeted by Leonard who to her astonishment announced that he was taking her out for a movie and a meal.

Now utterly surprised by this latest development Penny did as asked and had a shower, then she really pulled out all the stops to make herself look attractive to Leonard. ' _Leonard will be sure to want me again if he sees me so pretty like this_ ', she told herself, and as she walked downstairs, she caught the glimpse of someone just entering the dining room, before closing the door.

By now, utterly at a loss at to what on earth was going on, Penny began to walk towards the dining room determined to find out, when her way was suddenly barred by Honey Marie, who told Penny to wait there, the dining room door opened slightly and Leonard sidled his way out, "Hi Penny, Wow, Honey you look absolutely stunning", he said kissing her, then with a "shall we go my lady", they made their way to the car.

Leonard drove to the Madeline Garden bistro, which made Penny feel a little more secure in herself and then her suspicions turned to one of happy anticipation as Leonard told her to close her eyes and once she was led a little way Leonard told her to open them and their to Penny's joy were all her friends including Kay and J.G with little Chloe, Bernadette and Howard and their son Samuel, Amy and Sheldon, with their son Isaac, and also Beverley and Mike with the three girls and little Wyatt, and to Penny's complete surprise her father and Mother, Wyatt, and Marcia.

And on the table was the large parcel that Penny had spotted in the trunk of Leonard's car.

"Do you remember greatly admiring the two glass vases in the foyer of the hall at Cambridge university in England?", Leonard asked her.

Penny nodded. "Well I have only recently found out where they were made, in a little place at Alum Bay on the Isle of White, so my darling if you would like to open your present?", Leonard asked her.

Penny slapped him on his arm, "Lab equipment! really, You Hofstadter are something else", She told him before turning her attention towards her present. She opened the box and after removing the protective polystyrene shapes she withdrew two large Blossom bouquet vases, "Oh!, Leonard, I don't know what to say?, They're lovely, thank you", and with a mixture of relief and love for her Husband she embraced him and wept with happiness.

After she had recovered a little Leonard, from behind the table produced a large bunch of silk flowers, "I thought that these would look great in the vases", he told her.

"Also I know you have been down lately", he said a little quietly to her, so as not to embarrass her, but I wanted you to see just how much you are loved by all these, our friends and family. But most especially me", Leonard told her, with all the love in his heart.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

 **The Photograph**

It all started because, on one early spring day and Penny going outside and seeming to see her garden as if for the first time, shuddered as she looked at her garden after the winter had taken it's toll, and then she decided there and then, that they could all work to tidy it up this coming Saturday.

So early Saturday morning on an unseasonably warm spring day, they all gathered together in the garden with tools at the ready, Penny was enthusiastic, Leonard less so,, (but was loathe to upset his Penny), while the girls having no qualms at all over upsetting their Mother, if it meant avoiding any hard physical labour, though little Wyatt was blissfully unaware, as he was asleep in his pram, perhaps dreaming of bunny rabbits.

They then immediately set to work, though the girls would take turns in watching over Wyatt.

Things went well for an hour or so, until Wyatt woke up crying for his feed and a change of Diaper, and as soon as Penny went inside to see to him, the girls began playing, while Leonard took a breather and leaned idly against the Jacaranda tree. And after some 10 minutes had elapsed, as soon as the back door began to open, signaling Penny's return with Wyatt , the girls together with their Father hastily resumed working again, and for another couple of hours or so they resumed working, while one of the girls would watch over Wyatt and keep him amused as he lay on his play mat with his toys. Things went well for a while, Wyatt gradually tired of playing and returned to his slumber, until he was rudely awakened by a cry of pain from his father as Leonard had reluctantly acquired a thorn from a puncture vine in his thumb. Penny removed the thorn and went to quickly check on Wyatt who was still crying lustily on being disturbed in such a fashion.

And after checking that he did not need feeding, Penny changed his diaper and gave him his bottle of juice, but in spite of this Wyatt was still distressed. So Penny asked if all the girls could possibly, take him for a walk in his stroller, hoping that he would soon calm down, and she returned to the garden, but on sight of Leonard leaning against the Jacaranda tree again, she was about to berate him for slacking, but immediately changed her mind as, on nearing him she discovered that he was operating his inhaler and looking more than a little worse for wear after his exertions that morning. Penny decided it was time for a coffee and a bite to eat and pulling off the cover from one of the chaise lounge under the Jacaranda tree, she bade Leonard sit while she fetched the coffees, and on returning she shared Leonard's chaise lounge and sitting close together they ate and drank,.

"It's looking much better now, isn't it?", Penny asked him

"Yep, it certainly does, thanks to the slave driver", Leonard responded.

Penny punched his arm in reaction, "Hey I'm not that bad Hofstadter", she told him, feeling a little miffed.

Leonard's countenance softened, "no of course not, you're wonderful", he told her with all sincerity as he put an arm round her.

"You had better believe it", Penny replied and began to lovingly embrace her husband in return, who then turned his face towards her and kissed her before both fell asleep during this precious moment of closeness.

And 5 minutes later this was the scene the girls stumbled on, upon their return with Wyatt who was now thankfully asleep.

While April, who was now a proud member of her schools camera club and remembering Mr Brewster's counsel to seize the moment and always be ready to take that shot, quickly grabbed her camera and took a photograph of her parents.

the next Tuesday, she showed her photograph to Mr Brewster who suggested April enter it in the club's competition, April had titled her photograph "Resting", but Mr Brewster, so struck by the obvious love shown between April's parents suggested that perhaps she should title it simply "Love is", and on learning that the prize for winning the competition was a Nikon digital SLR, Lenses, flashgun and tripod , April eagerly entered the competition, only to find six weeks later to her astonishment that she was the proud winner of the competition, and the judges were wowed by the cuteness of the subject matter and the title really did say it all.

"You won what, honey?" , Penny asked not quite taking in what April was trying tell her, being distracted as she was, busily preparing the evening meal.

"A Photography competition?, That's clever of you April, Which one did you send in?, Penny asked, while wondering which photo of the local park did April use, as they had taken her there with her camera weeks ago.

April duly showed Penny the photograph she had triumphed with, "This one, Oh Wow!, that's great sweetie", Penny told her with some very mixed feelings as she closely examined the image of herself, messy haired, dirt on her face, no make up, and dressed in her old clothes, but in spite of this, Penny just had to agree, it was the cutest picture of herself and Leonard that she had ever seen.

Penny's embarrassment was later made even worse when the school decided to display all the winning entries in the foyer, with April's "Love is", taking the most prominent position. Which was spotted by Mr Harrison of the Harrison's Garden nurseries chain, and inspiration had struck him immediately.

It was completely by chance that he had stumbled upon the photograph, as his Granddaughter, Elisa, had had a dental appointment that morning and due to her parents working, Mr Harrison had helped them out by taking their Daughter to the dentists.

He had lately been disappointed by the efforts of an advertising agency to produce something that would really draw the public to come to his garden nurseries.

And now Mr Harrison chuckled to himself, "yep, I reckon I can do a better job of advertising, with the aid of this photograph.

So after obtaining the details from the school, and after the school had phoned the Hofstadter's to obtain their permission, for the school to pass Mr Harrison their contact details, Mr Harrison phoned and arranged to meet Penny and Leonard.

"I'll come straight to the point", Mr Harrison told them once they were all seated in penny's lounge.

"I'd really like to use that wonderful photograph of your Daughter's for a new advertising campaign for my garden nursery business. I will of course be willing to pay the full going rate for using said photograph of course", Mr Harrison asked hopefully.

Penny closed her mouth which had opened in shock, "I don't know what to say", she told him.

"Please, with the money I would not be spending from not having to use the advertising agency, I can pay you instead", he explained, misinterpreting Penny's uncertainty.

Soon though, an agreement was reached and the photograph was quickly displayed on billboards all over California, the caption under it read, " **Isn't** **Love wonderful, then love your garden and come to Harrison Garden Nurseries for all your garden needs".**

The advertisement quickly became popular with Joe Public, and so Mr Harrison decided to put them on T.V.

And Penny together with Leonard appeared in several advertisements, and even Kay and J.G. also appeared in one of them with Penny and Leonard, the slogan on that one read,

" **looking for Stars?, then come to Harrison Garden Nurseries for our Star bargains** ".

Leonard took a certain amount of teasing at Cal Tech though this quickly died down when it was revealed that Leonard used much of his fee to donate equipment for the science department.

So in spite of her reservations over her disheveled appearance, the photograph became one of Penny's and Leonard's family favourites. As it so clearly showed the real love between them.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 34

One Late night in Leonard and Penny's bedroom.

"Leonard hold still, how on earth can I help undress you if you keep fidgeting like this", Penny remonstrated,

as she struggled to help Leonard who had been incapacitated to a certain extent from a fractured collarbone, resulting in him having to wear a sling.

"Sorry I just hate having you do everything for me like this", Leonard admitted, Then after noticing Penny's look of dismay quickly added, "I mean I just hate putting on you Honey", he amended.

But Penny really enjoyed taking care of her husband. She felt closer to him, and it also gave her a chance to express her love for him more fully, which Penny felt was so important, not only for Leonard but for herself as well.

"Well Doctor if you hadn't insisted on playing with Phil Johnson's chainsaw, then you would not have had to wear that sling", Penny reminded him.

"I wasn't playing, Phil was busy so he said I could borrow his chainsaw to cut those dead branches off", Leonard told her.

"Yes and I thought you were smart, tell me how much education do you need, to know that you don't place a stepladder, on uneven ground like that, let alone try and operate a chainsaw off of it?, I wouldn't have been surprised if my hair had turned white with fright", Penny again reminded him.

"I know, I'm sorry Honey, I knew how you frightened you were, I felt you shaking like a leaf, I just thought as Phil was busy I could just lop the two branches off quickly, I watched Phil using it before and it looked easy enough", Leonard explained, and choosing not to mention Penny's scream of fright, which Leonard was certain could have been heard two blocks away.

Penny's face took on a look that was a mixture of incredulity and despair, "Phil knew what he was doing Honey, he's probably used the thing hundreds of times, My God Leonard I thought I had lost you?, even the dog was frightened enough to run in here and cower under this bed in fright. I know you were just trying to help, but truly, there is no way that I could take another scare like that", Penny told him passionately.

Leonard, now shamefaced, stared at the floor, cursing Himself for very stupidly upsetting his Penny again, I'm really sorry, I love you Penny, please forgive me?", he begged.

Penny looked at him in a serious fashion, "Okay, but don't you ever, ever do that again, I beg you", she told him firmly.

The next morning they dropped little Wyatt off at Beverley's, and the three girls off at school, before Penny drove Leonard over to Cal Tech, she walked into Cal Tech with Leonard, carrying his rucksack.

(Leonard refused to have a briefcase, it just brought up too many damn memories of himself trying to retrieve it from one or other of the bullying morons, or the locations they would throw it to.)

They reached Leonard's office and as Penny returned to the car to collect some papers that they had forgotten to pick up, when President Siebert knocked and entered.

"Ah Dr Hofstadter, just the man I need. Tell me are you doing anything Saturday evening?", President Siebert asked him.

"Well I do look forward to spending some time with my wife, but if you want any help with a project?", Leonard asked helpfully.

"Why yes I do, Dr Cooper tells me that you are on very good terms with Dr Elizabeth Plimpton?", Dr Siebert quizzed.

"Yeess sort of", Leonard uneasily admitted, and wondering where this was going.

And at this point Penny returned, within earshot of their discussion.

"Excellent!, I want you to take Dr Plimpton out to dinner, spoil her and sweet talk her, as you are well aware Dr Hofstadter it is important that we take every opportunity to raise the profile of this university and a series of lectures given here by Dr Plimpton will do just that. So I leave the matter in your capable hands".

And Dr Siebert left without even acknowledging Penny whose face was now as black as a thundercloud.

"Did I hear Right/ Did I hear him say Plimpton?", Penny demanded.

Leonard sighed, he was not at all pleased in the first place, about having to take Dr Plimpton out to dinner, and now worse still, it seems Penny has overheard them talking. Not that Leonard had any intention to hide this news from Penny, but it sure would have been a lot easier to tell her if she was a lot calmer.

Leonard informed Penny about Dr Siebert's intention to have Dr Plimpton give a series of lectures, in order to raise the profile of the university.

"How the hell did he find out about you and her?", Penny asked him, her eyes wild with rage.

"Sheldon Cooper told him", Leonard told her simply.

Penny growled and not for the first time, greatly desired introducing Sheldon Cooper to a baseball bat.

Penny was just about to really go to town on Leonard over this and deliver quite a long lecture, when she finally noticed that Leonard was not at all OK with it either.

Penny sighed and putting her arms round her husband, told him, "I'm sorry Honey, What are we going to do?, she asked him.

Once again Leonard felt loathe to let the university down, but he did not want to hurt Penny either, "I feel as if I'm between a rock and a hard place", he admitted, then added, "Penny, I swear to you that you are the only woman that I ever want to go on an intimate dinner with, you know, after all these years together, I still pinch myself to check that I'm not dreaming of being married to you", he told her sincerely.

His words touched Penny's heart, and wide eyed with love, she could only say his name in a touching manner in reply.

After sharing a long goodbye kiss together, Penny made for her car and driving on automatic pilot, she tried to think of a possible solution to this awful predicament but on reaching Beverley and Mike's place she was no nearer an answer than when she started out.

And feeling quite down over the Plimpton problem she entered the house.

"Hello luvvy, what's up?, you've got a boat race like a milkman's round", Mike told her, as he gave her a cup of tea..

Penny was still getting to grips with his cockney rhyming slang, and she had to ask him what he meant?.

"sorry luv, what I said was you've got a boat race (face), like a milkman's round, in other words long", Mike explained.

Penny told Mike about Leonard and Dr Plimpton getting together shortly after she dumped him,"Well it's because they want Leonard to take this Woman out to, as you would say it, Lilley and Skinner, and neither Leonard or I want this to happen, but if he doesn't it might hurt the university", Penny explained feeling thrilled at receiving a thumbs up from Mike, as she correctly quoted the rhyming slang for dinner.

"is Leonard going to be able to drive by Saturday", Mike asked her.

"No, he'll still be wearing his sling so it looks as if I will have to drive him there, I suppose", Penny replied.

"Well then, go with him", Mike told her simply.

"Oh so Miss Slut bunny and I can look daggers at each other over the fish course?", Penny informed him.

"Please love, don't mention fish, I could murder a large cod and chips right now?. Now then you both know all too well you are too much in love with each other to be able to cope too well with upsets like this?, So, if you go with him, you can then give her the message that Leonard is your old pot and pan and she can keep her 'ands off him. And knowing Leonard, I think you'll find that he will be quite relieved to have what is for him the love of his life with him", Mike explained.

The more Penny thought about it the more she liked it so in her best actresses East London accent she thanked Mike, "Blimey, if you ain't a downright bloomin' genius then I don't know wot is", and laughing she hugged him in gratitude.

Penny had dressed to kill leaving Leonard absolutely breathless at seeing how beautiful his wife looked tonight, and Leonard heartily wished that it was just himself and Penny, that would be having dinner tonight, he smiled as he imagined all the envious looks from the male diners he would get as he enters the restaurant with his Penny on his arm, and Leonard's heart leaped with happiness inside his chest.

They met Dr Plimpton at the restaurant bar and Penny was thrilled as Leonard introduced her to Dr Plimpton as, "his dear wife, and the love of my life, Penny", and while Leonard was being asked what wine would he prefer by the wine waiter, Penny revealed to Dr Plimpton that she knew about Leonard and Dr Plimpton getting very close in the past.

Dr Plimpton smiled, "Please call me Elizabeth, I don't blame you for coming too Penny, Leonard is such a sweetie, and truly a wonderful guy. I daresay you are looking down your nose at me, so please let me explain about those years, yes I was successful but unfortunately not successful in love, I got so miserable then you see. I hated my own company, And I so longed for someone to hold me close to them during the night, I yearned for my loneliness to end, so I began picking up guys, I would do stupid scenarios, I foolishly thought that that was what they liked, but I found most of them left before the sun came up, and I was left alone again, Dr Plimpton wiped her eyes, the last straw was when the last guy I picked up, not only disappeared, but disappeared with my purse, phone and jewelry, and that was the last straw so I gave up. I still have not found love, but be rest assured Penny, I will not chase after your husband, what you have is so precious, that I would hate myself till the end of time if I caused damage to the wonderful relationship you both have.", and Elizabeth warmly squeezed Penny's hand for emphasis.

Penny sat there absolutely stunned. All this time she had imagined Dr Plimpton flirting with her Leonard all night, only to discover instead, a very Lonely woman with life experiences very much like her own as Penny herself looked for the love that was so important to her.

"You're wrong you know", Penny began, "I too had a reputation of being an easy lay, I too, like yourself longed to be loved by that special guy, that would stay with me for life, I moved to California from Nebraska, with a guy I thought was special and I really believed I was in love with him, but in the end, he stole my money, cheated on me and then when I caught him having sex in our bed with some girl he had been seeing behind my back.

And instead of being apologetic he expected the three of us to live together, and that was the last straw, I found another apartment and left him that day, then I met Leonard who was as you know, sharing an apartment opposite mine, with Sheldon Cooper. And the rest is history", Penny revealed.

And when Leonard returned, he was puzzled beyond belief to see the two women in animated conversation together, just like old friends, Even though he was pleased to have Penny accompany him, he was dreading that there would be an awful atmosphere throughout the entire evening.

Penny told Elizabeth all about the many times her Leonard would help her out as she struggled as a waitress. He blushed crimson as she told Elizabeth how when her car threw a rod, Her Leonard had bought her another one, she proudly showed Elizabeth, their wedding pictures that Penny kept on her phone, Elizabeth gushed over the pictures of their daughters, and emitted a big "aaaww", as she saw the picture of baby Wyatt, she wowed over the so cute picture of Leonard and Penny, as they fell asleep on the chaise long in the garden and Leonard feeling somewhat bored the entire evening, may as well have not been there at all, and finally as they were leaving, with many invitations from Penny for Elizabeth to stay with them while she was in Pasadena, which Elizabeth gratefully accepted, as she was very much looking forward to meeting the Hofstadter children, and as they parted Elizabeth asked Leonard to ask Dr Siebert if he would like her to give a few lectures at Cal Tech. While Leonard could only gape at her in utter astonishment as he had barely said a word all evening.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

 **The Lovers meet again**

Elizabeth Plimpton gazed around wide eyed at her new Apartment she had purchased in Pasadena and which Penny and her team had decorated throughout for her.

"I love it, really Penny you and your girls have quite the talent here", Elizabeth gushed, then added, "no more New York Winters for me", She declared.

"Yep", Penny agreed, "And now you've got the Apartment you can find someone special to bring back here", Penny added in a conspiratorial tone.

"As to that, well, we'll just have to see. Though I would love to have the relationship that you have Penny, You are such a lucky Woman", Elizabeth told her.

"Yes you're absolutely right, I am so happy that sometimes I just sometimes can't believe how much Myself", Penny admitted.

After waiting some time for Elizabeth to finish her inspection. Penny reminded Elizabeth of the need to leave soon as Penny had to drop her Daughters off at school.

"So, what plans do you have now you are living here in Pasadena?", Penny asked Elizabeth as she drove.

"Well I have so enjoyed giving those talks at Cal-Tech, and I really feel it's so important for me to pass on what I have learned from my studies of Science so others can continue to discover more about the make up of our Universe in the future, and I thought that I would look into doing more of just that" Elizabeth revealed.

Just then Elizabeth's cell rang, "Hello, yes Wednesday is still fine for the move. So I will expect your guys then, OK, Great", and then she ended the call, then turning to Penny, "That was the removal company, "confirming Wednesday was still OK for them to bring my furniture", she explained.

At this point Honey Marie then asked Elizabeth if she would like to give a talk at her School.

"Why certainly Honey Marie, I'd be Honoured", Elizabeth told her. And they continued their journey to Newton Academy.

Honey Marie knocked a little timidly on the Headmaster's door, and after his response to her knock, she entered his study.

"Aah, now then It's Honey Marie Hofstadter, isn't it?, Come dear, how can I help you?", he inquired.

Well Sir, It's my Mom's friend, I wondered if you would like to have her give a talk to some of the pupils here?", Honey Marie asked nervously.

"Well that would be very nice I'm sure, but I really need to know who your Mom's friend is though, wouldn't I?", He informed her.

"Yes Sir, of course Sir, Its Dr Elizabeth Plimpton, Sir", Honey Marie told him.

At this point Dr Peregrine Leyton-Smythe's eyes had widened in disbelief and his pallor had paled as he barely whispered, "Elizabeth, You mean Dr Plimpton is here?", He demanded.

"Yes Sir, Dr Plimpton has been staying with us while Dr Plimpton found an apartment here in Pasadena, I think she is a friend of my Father?", Honey Marie revealed.

Dr Leyton-Smythe was unable to speak, and Honey Marie could not fail to notice his hands were trembling.

"Please, by all means could you let Eli', I mean Dr Plimpton know we would all be delighted to have her give a talk here", He told her as a wild gleam of hope now appeared in his eyes.

Over dinner that evening, Honey Marie informed Elizabeth that her Headmaster would be delighted if she could give a talk at her school, and Elizabeth beamed and told her if her headmaster would give her an opportune date to give the talk then Elizabeth would pencil it in.

"He's a bit strange, although he is very dedicated to teaching his Pupils and enabling them to fully realize their potential, I call him Pelican as he has the funny name, 'Peregrine',", Penny told Elizabeth.

"PEREGRINE?", Elizabeth suddenly startled, asked, "What is is full name?", She asked Penny earnestly.

"Well it's one of those double barreled numbers, Leyton-Smythe", Penny revealed, wondering at the sudden change in Elizabeth's demeanour for Elizabeth had turned quite pale, and rather resembled a deer caught in the headlights.

Then in some distress she told Honey Marie,"I'm sorry, I can't give your talk", before running upstairs to her room in tears.

"Don't worry Honey, I'll see what's wrong", Penny told her Daughter as she left to go up to see why Elizabeth was suddenly so upset.

"Elizabeth", Penny called, as she carefully pushed open the guest room door.

"I, I'm Sorry", Elizabeth sobbed.

"Do you know Peli', I mean Peregrine then?", Penny asked her.

"Yes, you see we began dating shortly after we graduated from Harvard, and it was great, and I really thought that it was leading to something more permanent, but one night he just stood me up without a word, and I never saw him again", Elizabeth explained.

"Didn't you try to find out why", Penny puzzled.

"Yes of course, I went round to where he had been staying but his landlady, who positively stank of drink at 09:30 in the Morning, told me that he had left and did not know where he had gone, and the old curmudgeon would not even let me see his room, I thought that maybe I would find clues to where he had gone. I was so devastated that he never rang once to tell me where he was, so I applied for a position in England, which I took up three days later, determined to forget about him", Elizabeth tearfully explained.

"Until now", Penny replied. Then added, "Well now you have the chance to find out from Peregrine what happened", Penny pointed out.

"Perry, He prefers Perry", Elizabeth told her.

"OK, I only know Perry as the girls Headmaster, OK he seems a bit pompous but I know he is a very dedicated man to his students, and I would think that a dedicated Man would have a damn good reason why he didn't turn up?", Penny reasoned.

"I can't, It's been too long now", Elizabeth plaintively pointed out.

"C'mon Sweetie, Didn't you tell me that you wanted the same thing that Leonard and I have?, Please I beg you, Don't throw happiness away, My God I nearly made that stupid mistake myself. The day before you hooked up with Leonard, I had dumped him, I was so afraid you see of the emotional pain when he would surely grow tired of me as I wasn't as smart as he wanted, or so I thought, so I ended it before that happened. But I made a mistake and although I am proud to be his wife now, it is still something I will greatly regret because I could so easily have lost him forever. So Please Elizabeth, take the chance to find out", Penny told her passionately.

Elizabeth looked down at the floor as she considered Penny's plea. She looked round the room, until her eyes settled on a photograph which had been proudly given to her by April.

It was a picture of the Hofstadter family taken in the local park with Elizabeth holding little Wyatt, and smiling back at her were Honey Marie and Angela with Penny and Leonard standing behind them next to Elizabeth. Penny's face was turned towards Leonard and she was adoringly looking up at him while Leonard was holding her close to him with his arm, the other arm was still in the sling.

Elizabeth had wanted a relationship like that for a long time, and Penny was right, Elizabeth would be a fool to throw it away.

Then as the distant memory came to her of the night with Leonard, Elizabeth knew she could not keep her secret about Leonard from Penny any longer.

"Alright, could you ask Perry to call me and I will arrange to meet with him, but first Penny, I must tell you something about that night with Leonard", Elizabeth began, but was interrupted by Penny, "There's no need, it's OK, Really", Penny told her.

"Look if you want me to meet Perry then you must hear what I have to say about Leonard?", Elizabeth told her seriously.

"OK, I'll listen", Penny said reluctantly, not wishing to return at all to that awful night.

"I go for guys that look like James Bond, suave sophisticated, you know the whole package", Elizabeth began.

"So what was the deal with Howard, Raj and my Leonard", Penny interrupted again.

"Well Howard was being a real creep thinking he could pull me, and Raj a little less so so I played them along. Raj locked Howard and Leonard out of his apartment, which spoiled my plan of taking Howard down a notch or two, while all I did was to smile at Raj and in my best come hither voice I said 'Hello sexy', at which point Raj clutched at his groin and looked horror stricken and rushed for his bathroom and stayed there, so I left", Elizabeth Explained.

"And Leonard?", Penny demanded feeling decidedly uncomfortable despite laughing inwardly that old quick draw Raj had failed on that occasion too.

"well the night before, I was awakened by the sound of someone crying, it was awful, truly Penny I had never heard a grown man cry in such a devastated fashion as I did that night. It moved me to want to give comfort, so I entered his room and one thing led to another. But the sex was so strange, it felt like he wasn't making love to me but to someone else, it was the angry type of sex, as thought he was trying to show how much he had been hurt to the person who had hurt him so badly, and I did not know then that that person was you. Penny his cry was the like of which I never ever want to hear again. That's how bad it was".

Penny now shaken to her core suddenly had to sit down, afraid her legs would give out on her in shock if she didn't. Sure she knew Leonard had been crying, Sheldon had revealed the fact himself. Penny began to weep bitterly, she should have been the one to comfort Leonard that night, she should have taken his pain, told him it was a mistake, damn it, she should have been there for him. Penny stood up and began walking towards the stairs, to apologize to Leonard, but Elizabeth quickly stopped her. "Penny do you really want to take Leonard back to that night?, it will do him no good at all if you drag it up again?. No just be determined to love and stick with your Leonard till the end", Elizabeth reasoned.

Penny turned to her, suddenly feeling a lot calmer, "I promise you, that I fully intend in the deepest part of my heart, to love and remain close by my Leonard's side forever", Penny vowed. And after a hug between the two women they then made plans where Perry could take Elizabeth for this long overdue date.

The date was quickly and eagerly arranged by Perry who agreed to Elizabeth's request that they should meet at the restaurant. Penny though wanted to be there for her friend and so with Beverley and Mike on baby sitting duty the couple left with Elizabeth to get to the restaurant before Perry arrived, and after selecting a table in an area to observe without being seen, they sat and waited until Perry arrived.

Thankfully to Penny and ultimately Elizabeth's relief, Perry was punctual which caused Elizabeth's feelings to soar at catching sight of him, and after presenting Elizabeth with a single red rose which elicited an "Aaww", from an excited Penny, Perry began to explain what happened that night.

"I'm so sorry Elizabeth, It was my own fault, I was in such a hurry to see you that I slipped on the icy steps leading from the lodging house, I fell rather heavily that I suffered a fractured skull and a broken leg, when I finally left the hospital I found, not only that my landlady had sold all my things to buy drink, but I, to my utter despair, had also found that you had seemingly vanished".

Elizabeth though could see, as soon as Perry had entered by the look on his face that he was looking upon her as if he was seeing someone who was very precious to him, so therefore she had no doubts that he was telling the truth.

"Your landlady told me that you had gone away, It's no wonder then that she refused to let me see your room, the old bat must have already sold the lot", Elizabeth revealed.

"I didn't know that, I'm afraid that I was totally out of it for some days, Elizabeth, now you know the reason, would you please consider us starting over,", Perry asked her earnestly.

"I think I would like nothing better, My love", Elizabeth told him placing her hand on his.

Leonard desperately tried to prevent Penny from squealing her delight at this outcome, causing Perry to turn around in surprise, though Penny quickly ducked down out of sight until Perry had turned his attention back to Elizabeth.

That night Perry In his bed stared into the darkness still hardly believing he had found his love again, meanwhile Elizabeth too was laying in her bed in the Hofstadter's guest room and for the umpteenth time smelling the sweetest scent from a red rose, and happily smiling to herself, she had found someone special.

While Penny still reeling over the report of the devastating emotional pain Leonard had suffered after their break up, and was showing Leonard the enormous love for her husband and telling him over and over, I will be with you forever.


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

 **The Present**

Penny rang Amy's doorbell in happy anticipation of discussing the latest gossip and a hundred other things they would all be talking about at their girls night tonight.

"Hi Bestie", Amy greeted Penny cheerfully, while Amy's Daughter Vera smiled shyly up at Penny, "Come on in, Some of the girls are here already, we are just waiting for Kay", Amy added.

The girls had increased now with the inclusion of Elizabeth Leyton-Jones nee Plimpton, making five of them altogether, and the evenings were usually filled with laughter too, which gave them all some respite from their busy schedules.

Soon Kay had arrived and the discussions began on general lines. Then Bernadette began a new subject.

"It's our anniversary next Wednesday, and I just have not got a single clue what to get Howard".

"I know exactly what you mean men are so difficult sometimes to know what to buy them, I mean when you want to give them that really special present that will express all the love that you have for them, just what on earth do you get?", Kay agreed.

"I have just the same trouble, it will be our twentieth this year and I don't really know what my Leonard wants either. And I really want it to be so special too as it's our twentieth", Penny opined.

"Excuse me, are you kidding Penny?, to give Leonard what he really wants, all you have to do Honey, is dress yourself in fancy wrapping paper and give yourself to him, I'm not kidding girls. When I stayed at their place for a spell, while I looked round for an apartment, I could not help noticing but they are so like magnets, you two have always got to be next to each other", Elizabeth observed.

"Oh my and I thought it was just me that noticed how close they are?, you know most couples sit in their particular favourite armchair, but these two always have to be snuggled up together on the couch", Amy agreed.

Bernadette began singing the words to me and my shadow when the others all joined in, except for Penny who looked distinctly upset at their teasing, at which point the teasing suddenly stopped

"I'm sorry, I guess it's because Leonard and I have been through so much turmoil", Penny sadly explained.

"We're sorry Penny we didn't mean anything by it", Bernadette apologized.

"Truly, what you have together Penny is very rare indeed, it's so cute to see the pair of you like that, still so much in love", Elizabeth said soothingly.

"It's a pity Penny, that that guy I got to do the painting of us together moved back to Wisconsin, or you could have got a painting of yourself in the nude for Leonard", Amy told her, then added "Then we could have all seen it".

The other four women all looked strangely at her. All feeling a little uncomfortable at Amy's suggestion at seeing a painting of a nude Penny.

Penny shuddered, She knew quite well though that the only person she wanted to see her in an unclothed state was her Leonard. And she certainly would not like anyone else but her Leonard, seeing the painting either.

However as the women chatted together, Penny thought about Amy's suggestion, Though Penny had added her favourite dress into the idea, it was also the dress that Leonard so loved to see her in however Penny realized she needed to lose a few pounds for her dress to fit properly though, and so she decided there and then to have a painting of herself as a present for Leonard. And at that point she revealed her plan to the other girls, who were very supportive as Penny would be fully clothed in the painting.

Bernadette began looking through the ads in the Pasadena Star, while Kay suggested to Penny that her wonderful team of make up artist and hairstylist could do her hair and makeup for her, which Penny readily accepted, and already seeing her Leonard unwrapping his present on their anniversary.

Though there were no adverts in the newspaper that day for portrait artists commissions, Bernadette informed Penny that she would trawl the net and find one for Penny.

Penny's extra yoga classes soon shifted the pounds, though she was able to still put on the dress the unsightly bulging in a couple of places detracted, in Penny's view, of the fit of the dress on her and now as she looked at herself in the mirror she was very pleased to see now an image of a trim Penny wearing a beautiful dress.

Bernadette heard of an artist that was doing commissions for portraits through a neighbour and Penny went to see him almost as soon as she had obtained the address from Bernadette.

The artists studio was housed in a small store, next door to a Bistro, and it seemed that it had been divided between reception/office at the front with the studio at the back, as Penny could see through the half open door leading to the studio, an easel and a stack of paintings leaning against the wall, Sebastian De Porter was very helpful as he showed Penny some photographs of his previous commissions and after Penny paid half the fee of $750, and she obtained a receipt though she had to remind him twice, as he seemed to get so carried away, with discussing the merits of titian and Holbein. Finally though it was agreed for Penny to come in and model for the painting a fortnight later.

Penny was so excited she went and had a coffee in the Bistro next door to try and calm herself down.

The next two weeks for Penny seemed to take a month to go by, but at last the day arrived and after Kay's hairdresser Chrissie had worked her magic with her hair and Jas made her up, while Kay herself did Penny's nails. Penny though was aghast at the expensive items of cosmetics that Jas was using and immediately offered to reimburse her, but Kay waived her offer aside, "Hey Penny you are my dearest friend and I can't let you do that, so don't worry sweetie, Honest, I'll square it up with Jas later, "And I know if I didn't, then I would be sure to lose the best make up artist in California", Kay Joked, while Jas just pulled a face as if feeling hurt that she would be so mercenary to accept any payment for such a good friend of Kay's.

Kay herself drove Penny to the studio, while Penny was still lost in wonder after she had seen herself in the mirror in Kay's large dressing room. Truly Leonard would be speechless at how beautiful Penny looked right now.

Penny exited the car and noticed a man repairing a door while a cop was writing something in a notebook. But Kay immediately sensed something wrong for she had noticed a woman with a little girl dressed in her finest as another couple, also in their best clothes, were approaching the cop with the notebook, and began asking him, ' what's going on?'.

Penny soon found out that the guy wasn't repairing the door, he was changing the locks, as Mr De Porter had gone owing $1300 dollars rent for the store as well as unpaid utility bills. It seemed from the patrolman that this guy would set up a fake studio in different places, get people to pay half for their portrait to be painted and after choosing a date for the sitting, a date he had already long gone by, taking their money with him.

After the humiliation of arranging a convenient appointment to visit the local precinct to give them any evidence, and with all the customers from the Bistro looking on with interest, Penny, feeling utterly Humiliated beyond belief, quickly retreated back to Kay's car and wept bitterly.

Kay was so angry as she drove Penny back to Kay's house, ' _How anyone could do such a mean thing to such a wonderful person as Penny like that', I don't know?_ , then she found that she was gripping the wheel so tightly that when they reached Kay's place, Kay found that she had dug her fingernails into her palms.

At the precinct later, Penny was led to a female officer, as most of the victims of his fraud were females it was felt for their comfort that a female officer would have more Empathy), who then proceeded to totally surprise Penny by telling her that she was lucky. Apparently according to the officer, Penny was lucky to have this incident investigated at all, if the stupid jerk had not ripped off a close relative of the Mayor himself, then we wouldn't have had the time or the resources for this incident to be investigated at all.

"Now then do you have anything at all that we could use against this Guy?", the officer asked.

"I only have a receipt, but that's bound to be a false name, so I doubt if it will be any good?", Penny told her apologetically.

"This is great!, Truly honey, false name it may be, but we now have the dudes handwriting, and also his own acknowledgment here that he stiffed you for $750, so if he's caught with any proceeds from his crimes you've got a good chance of getting your money back. Truly you'd be surprised how many folks went there and didn't think to get a receipt, you are one clever woman", The officer told her, hoping that Penny would not feel so down after this encouraging point.

Though the reason Penny was feeling miserable, was because she had not yet told Leonard about the incident, though Leonard knew full well that something was wrong but Penny begged him to let her tell him about it a bit later on, for Penny was still determined to give Leonard what he wanted most, but her problem now was finding another artist who would not take her for a ride., so for that reason she was shy of any word of mouth or indeed small ads in the newspaper.

It was not until two months before their anniversary that Penny found her artist, quite by chance.

Kay's daughter Chloe, had by now become firm friends with Penny's son Wyatt, so they were often in each others houses and on this particular day while Penny was remonstrating with Wyatt for running through the kitchen that she noticed Wyatt had a piece of paper in his hand and Penny asked him what was the paper for?.

"Chloe gave it me, isn't it good, she said I could put it on my wall", and Wyatt showed Penny what was on the paper.

The drawing was a very fine study of Chloe, in Pencil, Penny gasped in amazement at how good it really was, for the artist had captured not only Chloe's likeness, but also somehow Chloe's personality too, it was such a fine picture it quite took Penny's breath away.

"It's absolutely wonderful Wyatt", Then Penny turned to Chloe, "It's superb Chloe, are you sure you want Wyatt to have it?", Penny asked her.

Chloe answered in the affirmative, she was quite determined for Wyatt to have it on his wall for some reason.

Penny then asked Chloe where she went to have it done and Chloe informed her that a woman draws them at the local market that they had gone to, and then Chloe told Penny how embarrassed her parents made her as they insisted on wearing weird clothes and dark glasses despite it being overcast that day.

Penny then rang Kay that very evening, in order to discover the exact market they went to. And accompanied by Bernadette they visited the market that very weekend.

But to Penny's chagrin the only person drawing that day was a man and he was drawing cartoons of the kids, and certainly not the fine pencil art that was done on Chloe's portrait.

Penny now bitterly disappointed turned to go home, but Bernadette was determined to find this talented artist if it killed her, so she decided to ask the cartoonist if he knew who it was.

"Actually it's my sister Rachel, Isn't she talented, I wish I had her talent, all I can draw is cartoons, still it helps to keep the wolf from the door so to speak. I'm Bob Harris by the way, Er, why do you ask?", he said quizzically.

Penny's despondency had suddenly vanished as a new hope appeared in her eyes.

"Well she drew a wonderful picture of my friends Daughter, and I wondered if she paints portraits as well?", Penny asked eagerly.

"Well, let's find out, I'm nearly finished here as chance would have it, so if you would like to follow me to her place, we'll ask her" Bob told them.

A little later, as they walked to Rachel's door. Bob confessed, actually Sis was filling in for me last week, I had rather a heavy night of it Saturday night, and I just could not bear to hear the noise of the market that morning. If you know what I mean?.

"Yeah, I think Penny has a good idea", Bernadette revealed as she poked her tongue out at Penny's stern tacit rebuke.

Rachel Harris opened the door and greeted her Brother, and Penny got her first sight of a very pretty petite blonde, which caused Penny to feel rather glad that she had not brought Leonard with her, she still could not help having her insecurities.

Rachel's apartment seemed to double as her studio too for there were dozens of canvases, a few half finished, and artists materials strewn around, and it comforted Penny somewhat in that she was looking at a real artists studio.

Penny went on to explain about the picture Rachel had drawn for Chloe, and if she painted portraits then Penny would be very grateful if Rachel could paint a portrait of Penny.

"Wow, this will be my very first commission, you know I've always dreamed of opening a gallery in L A, to display my work, I'd love to paint you, yeah it will be great, so when will you be coming for a sitting?, Penny arranged for a week later, hoping that Kay would let her team work it's magic again.

So with a "right let's knock your old man's socks off", from Rachel, they all said their goodbyes.

And when it came to the point that Rachel asked for half the fee up front. Penny had no qualms at all in giving it to her and Penny received a receipt from Rachel without the need for Penny's prompting at all, after all it looked like Rachel had been living there for some time without the obvious clutter identifying the place as an artists studio, and also Penny had the artists real name.

Kay could not have been more helpful at Penny's request for her teams help, Kay had not even told her team what happened to spare Penny from further humiliation, she just told them that there had been a slight hitch.

So a week later a Stunning Mrs Penny Hofstadter nervously knocked on Rachel's door with Kay in tow, and to her relief the door was immediately opened by Rachel herself who ushered them in, eager to begin.

She put Penny in various poses before settling on one in which Penny was sitting sideways on a chair and looking almost straight at the artist with her left hand underneath her chin. The pose still did not look quite right however for Rachel, and she pondered for a little while. "now then, you tell me that this is going to be a present for your Husband?, Rachel asked her.

"yes, that's right it's for our anniversary you see", Penny confirmed.

"OK Penny, if you could then imagine that you are looking at your Husband then?", Rachel requested.

For some reason Penny thinking of their coming anniversary then began remembering the look on her Husband's face on the day of their wedding.

"Oh my God, Yes, that's it, Oh that's wonderful", Rachel squealed with delight and she began to hurriedly apply paint to canvas.

After a few days of sitting still and holding a pose, Penny was finally relieved as the day arrived for her to be seeing the finished portrait at Rachel's studio along with her four girlfriends. They all stood on tenterhooks waiting for Rachel to remove the cloth from the painting, and with a dramatic flourish Rachel unveiled the painting.

With gasps of astonishment the girls gazed at the sheer loveliness of the subject, Like the pencil drawing of Chloe, Rachel had not only captured the likeness of Penny but also the deep love that was mirrored in her face for the object of her sight,(In her mind's eye), of her Leonard.

Rachel bathed shyly in the copious praises from the five women and feeling a little star struck that that famous actress Kay was among them in Rachel's very own apartment,( Rachel now furiously wished she had tidied up a bit now). Also Penny was so overcome by how wonderful her portrait was for Leonard that she added a considerable tip for Rachel.

"you know, I was just thinking earlier, you had mentioned to me when we first met about a pencil drawing I did of a young girl?", Rachel asked Penny.

"Yes that would be my Daughter Chloe", Kay informed her.

"Wow!, you see normally I don't put that much effort into a drawing as they usually get ripped or shoved into a drawer and quickly forgotten. But your Daughter insisted quite firmly how it was to be for someone very special and I was so moved by her request that I took exceptional trouble to get her just right, who would have thought it would have led to my first commission?", Rachel mused.

But Penny was hearing again, Chloe's own quite determined answer that it was for Wyatt to hang on his wall, " _I think I had better talk to Kay about this later_ ", Penny thought.

XXXXXXX

The day of their anniversary.

Leonard looked at the parcel, "obviously a picture frame, but really could be anything, _a Star trek Captains shirt signed by William Shatner perhaps, or perhaps a picture of their four children?_ ".

"Come on Leonard, please stop teasing me and open it", Penny pleaded excitedly.

Leonard opened his present and then gaped in utter astonishment at the portrait of an absolute vision before him, so overcome was he that his hands began shaking," are you OK Leonard?, Do you like it", Penny asked, her nerves on edge.

"How did you do it?, That's the look you had on your face when you turned to look at me on our wedding day, It's wonderful, then he whispered and repeated, truly wonderful, I love you so much", then Leonard turned and held her close to him and kissed her passionately for quite some time.

Leonard was so pleased he had a smaller version painted by Rachel, so that he could hang it on his office wall and look at it every morning when he came into work.

It did not look like the fraudster ever getting caught until the day he dropped his wallet in Sacramento and an officer called to alert him to his loss when the jerk ran and collided with the side of a moving bus, a few seconds earlier and he would have been under it. While still semi conscious and believing he was caught he told the officer, "Yeah OK, you got me, guess I upset quite a few folks Huh, and the study of his hand writing tied him to Penny's receipt and he was jailed, Penny fortunately got her money back which she insisted on donating to Rachel to help her realize her dream.

And when Penny finally told Leonard what happened, Leonard was so relieved, as he had been worrying that there was something wrong with his wife and that it was only money, and not his beloved wife's health, that he hugged her.

Penny later, also discussed with Kay over Chloe's feelings for Wyatt, but in the end, they decided that as Wyatt did not seem to show the same feelings for Chloe. That they would just keep an eye on the situation, after all it was bound to fizzle out eventually.

One night, and Chloe lay and wondered for a while if Wyatt did look at her picture every night, meanwhile at the same time, Wyatt was just saying goodnight, god bless to Chloe's picture, then whispering to it before he fell to sleep, "I Love you".


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

 **A tale of Wyatt and Chloe**

It was about two years later that Wyatt's feelings for Chloe became evident to the parents of both Wyatt and Chloe.

Wyatt's drama teacher had decided that the end of term play would be The two Gentlemen of Verona, However the Principal disagreed, deciding that after five years of Shakespeare, It was time for a change and as this term had produced some talented musicians among the pupils, It would be good to have a musical instead.

Particularly as Shakespeare's Scottish play they performed last year had seemed to have gone down like the proverbial lead balloon for both pupils and Parents. And so it was decided by the Principal to put on the musical "Oliver", instead.

However the Drama teacher, a sour faced, mean spirited, middle aged Woman, known by the name of Miss Tibbs, who was in high dudgeon over her disagreement with the Principal over his choice of a musical rather than than one of the Great Bard's plays. And in the spirit of those so called democratic political groups that can't get their own way, She resorted to sabotage.

She sabotaged the musical, by proceeding to select particular pupils and gave them the parts, that they were wholly unsuited to play.

As Miss Tibbs was due to retire she considered such an act of sabotage a fitting retribution for anyone daring to belittle Shakespeare, especially as the Principal had confessed to her that in his opinion, Shakespeare was overrated.

Therefore when Wyatt mentioned to Chloe about the musical, Chloe informed him that she particularly liked watching Lionel Bart's version, and then she gushed at length over how good Jack Wilde was in the part of the Artful Dodger, and thus over her admiration for Mr Wilde, Immediately prompted a jealous Wyatt to audition for that same part, in order to show Chloe that Wyatt could perform it just as well, and also so that Chloe would gush over Wyatt instead.

Therefore Wyatt with the considerable help of Mike, who being a native from London's east end could teach accurately the accent required, therefore Wyatt practiced diligently at home to the chagrin of Leonard, who was by now heartily sick of the cockney accent in his house, but with the full support from Penny who also learned to speak it correctly, to help Wyatt, and hoping in her heart, that Wyatt would choose acting for his career.

So Wyatt was flabbergasted when Miss Tibbs chose Jeremy Davison for the part instead of Wyatt despite Wyatt being the best Artful Dodger in the school. And was, to his utter disgust, relegated to a non speaking role as one of Fagin's gang of pickpockets.

"What is going on with her, Jeremy is awful at playing the Dodger, and I'm going to look so stupid when I tell Chloe I won't be playing the part. She was so excited when I told her, that she has talked her Mom and Dad into going to watch me too, now all she and her Mom and Dad will see of me now is right at the back of the stage behind everyone else, great, just great, Chloe is going to be so mad at me now", Wyatt said at length to his Mother, and feeling quite demoralized.

Penny turned to him and placed her hands on his shoulders, "Honey, you are very good, I've watched your rehearsals here at home myself, I'm sure that there has been some mistake?, try and be positive something may turn up?", Penny told him, hoping that it might cheer him up a little.

But Wyatt went to his room and listlessly laid on his bed all evening, and imagined hearing Chloe's mocking words in his ears.

And as the week moved inexorably towards the Weekend, where Chloe had made plans for Wyatt to accompany her Mother Kay and Herself to the stables for an afternoon hack, Wyatt's spirits sank lower and lower.

About mid morning on the Thursday, Miss Tibbs, in rearranging desks around for a small rehearsal of a particular scene in the classroom, put her back out in a particularly painful fashion and had to be taken home, where the Principal himself took charge of the class and quickly discovered from the rehearsal Miss Tibbs scheme to undermine the musical, then after asking who would like to play, Oliver, The Artful Dodger, Mr Sowerberry, Noah Claypole, Charlotte, and others.

Soon to the immense relief of Jeremy Davison, who was a quiet shy sort of boy, and who was absolutely dreading his appearing before a large audience in such a major role. It was quickly decided to award the part of the Artful Dodger to Wyatt Hofstadter, who was so relieved at this turn of events that when he returned home after school he announced his arrival as, "Mr Jack Dawkins at yer service Milady", at which Penny replied, " And greetings to a very fine Gennelman yerself if I may make so bold, Sir", after which they both laughed uproariously.

XXXXXXXX

So it was arranged for Chloe's parents, Kay and J.G. to take their seats after the lights had gone down, in order that being such famous stars from Hollywood, people might not cause a disturbance by asking for their autographs, and they proceeded to sit next to Leonard and Penny.

Kay was immediately struck at the enormous talent shown by Wyatt who absolutely stole the show, and Kay could tell that Wyatt had worked very hard on his portrayal indeed, Kay had also not failed to notice how Chloe never took her eyes off of Wyatt the whole time, her eyes growing wider with admiration the more Wyatt's scenes went on.

Though Kay was quite worried for Chloe, as she had few friends and if Chloe's friendship with Wyatt ever foundered, Kay knew very well that Chloe would find it very hard to recover from it indeed.

The audience laughed at the pompous Mr Bumble, who was played by the Principal himself, while the Physical training teacher, played a very convincing Bill Sikes, the art department too, did themselves proud by their accurately grim backdrops of the slums of London's East end, producing quite a realistic feel to the musical.

At the end the audience applauded loudly, and much more enthusiastically than they did last year. Which wholly convinced the Principal that he was right to stick to his guns over choosing a musical.

Wyatt feeling happy with his performance immediately sought out Chloe for her opinion but was accosted by Kathy Lewis, Who had played Charlotte the girlfriend of Noah Claypole, who then proceeded to congratulate Wyatt on his performance, and then, although Chloe was not a pupil of Wyatt's school, Kathy, who lived in the same street as Wyatt and had become aware of the close friendship between Wyatt and Chloe, suddenly in a spirit of mischief, threw her arms around Wyatt, as she spotted Chloe approaching them and Kathy began kissing him passionately, while Wyatt to his surprise at Kathy's reaction, placed his hands on Kathy's waist in order to push her away from himself, But Chloe interpreted Wyatt's action as embracing Kathy, and now as her tears began to flow Chloe hurriedly made her way back to her parents and asked to be taken home.

"What the hell are you doing?", Wyatt demanded of Kathy.

"Just playing a game", Kathy replied smirking, then she left to find her friends to have a laugh together over her scheme to destroy the friendship.

Wyatt looked for Chloe in vain and sadly left with Leonard and Penny, wondering to himself why on earth did Chloe leave so suddenly.

When the Saturday arrived Chloe rang Wyatt and canceled his usual visit to her and told him quite tersely, "I Guess you would rather see Kathy anyway after you kissed her in that disgusting manner ", Then she rang off before Wyatt could reply.

XXXXXXX

Chloe, as Kay feared was utterly heartbroken, and for the next few days She would just sit in her room and cry.

Wyatt too, felt quite distressed, and thought hard how he could restore things back to how they were between himself and Chloe, then getting an idea he withdrew all his savings and purchased a necklace, hoping that this gift, along with an explanation that Kathy's advances were unwanted , It may then convince Chloe to resume their friendship.

But when Wyatt called at Chloe's house and tried to explain and give her her present, Chloe at the sight of the necklace just grew even angrier and slammed the door in Wyatt's face.

XXXXXXX

Leonard passed the girls rooms and sighed as he saw their tidy bedrooms, and wished that they were home and Leonard for the umpteenth time telling the three girls to tidy their bedrooms, Leonard sighed and prayed his Daughter's were keeping OK at Princeton. He moved on down the hall and was just passing Wyatt's room, when, on catching sight of Wyatt just lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling Leonard knocked and entered.

"You OK?", Leonard asked Wyatt, knowing full well that Wyatt was far from OK.

"She just got angry Dad?, why did she get angry? She barely looked at it?", Wyatt asked, still in some disbelief at Chloe's action.

"Looked at What, Son?", Leonard asked.

Wyatt reached for his bedside cabinet and retrieved the necklace from the drawer, "This!", He said simply, handing the necklace to his Father.

"Wow, how much was this?", Leonard asked, examining the expensive looking jewelry.

"$400", Wyatt told him.

"Was that your savings?", Leonard asked him, then added, "I thought you were saving for a new computer?".

"I know, but somehow, I can't really put it into words, But Chloe's become so much more important to me than a computer", Wyatt revealed.

Leonard, in order to test Wyatt's feelings for Chloe told him, "You'll get over it in time, then you'll meet someone else and this will all be forgotten".

Wyatt rounded on his Father passionately, "Wrong Dad, I know I won't. Chloe's in my thoughts before I go to sleep, and she's in my thoughts when I wake up. I can never feel the same way about anyone else, I know I can't, I need her Dad".

"It's OK Son, that's what I thought, I just needed to hear it from you though, tell you what I'll discuss it with your Mom and we will see if we can sort this out", Leonard explained soothingly.

"Are you sure that's how he feels?", Penny asked Leonard as they discussed the rift.

"Yes, and do you remember a couple of months ago when the wind blew and slammed Wyatt's bedroom door shut, how Chloe's picture fell off the wall, didn't we have to immediately take him to buy another frame before Chloe's picture got damaged?", Leonard asked her.

"Yeah, you're right, he did make one hell of a fuss didn't he", Penny confirmed.

"And if he feels that way about her portrait, then his feelings are going to be a hell of a lot stronger for the girl herself", Leonard reasoned.

"But do you think they're too young?", Penny asked.

Well, I guess a little, but soon they'll be Sixteen and love's a funny thing like that, I've heard of folks who met at fourteen and stayed together for over sixty years. Sure it's rare, but who knows. Anyway let's see if we can get this mess sorted out and take it from there", Leonard reasoned.

Penny soon discovered for herself Just how strong Wyatt's feelings were for Chloe when he approached her one evening and asked her as she loaded the dishwasher, "I don't think Chloe will ever like me again?, pleas tell me what can I do to change her mind?, I mean, I just don't understand, why did she get mad at me just because I bought her a present?", he said, his voice almost breaking with emotion.

"Oh Sweetie, Chloe likes you a lot", Penny revealed, "It's just that she thought 1) you were kissing Kathy, and 2), that you thought that you could just buy your way into her affections, that's why she behaved the way she did", Penny explained.

"How do you know she likes me?", Wyatt quickly asked her, brightening visibly.

"Well, you see, the Artist who drew Chloe told me that she didn't normally put enormous effort into her portraits at markets because they usually get shoved into a drawer and forgotten, And please don't tell Chloe I told you but she begged the Artist if she could have a very good portrait as it was for someone very special. And I know very well that Kay would very much like that wonderful portrait of her Daughter, hanging in the most prominent position in her lounge , but Chloe insisted quite firmly that it was for you"

"You know your Father did the same thing with me once, thought he could make things better by just waving his credit card I mean", Penny told him.

"He did!, wow were you mad at him too", Wyatt asked her.

"No, I was just so very upset really, but your Auntie Bernadette let him have it both barrels,

"I bet Dad really enjoyed that lecture from aunt Bernadette then", Wyatt smirked.

"Yep she's not very tall but when something's wrong, everyone had better head for the hills, But all the same she has been a very dear friend to both your father and I, And bless him, your Father was really quite upset when he realized thanks to Bernadette's lecture, how much he had hurt me, and then he really put himself out to say sorry, and also in a way that helps me very much when I am stressed", Penny continued.

"What did he do?", Wyatt asked, hoping that this solution might work on Chloe.

"I can't really tell you that, I'm afraid, lets just say it's a Mom and Dad thing. And Wyatt, do think hard on how you, not your money, can do to change this situation around between yourself and Chloe, you had a wonderfully close friendship together, it would be such a shame to see it end like this, wouldn't it?"

And Wyatt sadly nodded his head in reply.

XXXXXXX

Meanwhile Kay too, was getting more than a little tired of the situation. And decided that She would try and put an end to the rift.

"You know if you have nothing better to do than lie there and sulk all day there's some weeding in the garden needs doing", Kay informed her Daughter.

"Chloe turned towards her mother and in a sulky tone told her, "I don't feel like it".

"how about I call Wyatt and get him to come over to help you?", Kay asked, and was much encouraged as she saw Chloe's eyes widen in hope, but then resumed back to the sulky pout.

"Don't want him anymore, he likes Kathy anyway", Chloe told her Mother in a annoyed tone of voice.

"Well for your information Miss Pout, Wyatt was being kissed by Kathy, he did not want to kiss her at all", Kay revealed.

Chloe's head turned sharply back towards her Mother, "You're just saying that", She said.

"Tell me?, Do you know Kathy at all?", Kay asked.

"No not to speak to, I've just seen her in the street when I went over to Wyatt's a couple of times, Why?", Chloe asked, wondering where her Mother was going with this.

"A pity, for if you had got to know her, you would have found Kathy to be one of those people who finds it amusing to make mischief at other peoples expense. She saw you approaching and being a girl herself,and aware of your close relationship with Wyatt and decided to put a spanner in the works by kissing Wyatt, which caught Wyatt totally by surprise and he is very angry at her now for causing you this distress", Kay explained, looking for any sign that Chloe might relent.

"Then why didn't Wyatt tell me that then himself?", Chloe asked.

"He tried to Chloe, but you were in such high dudgeon over your emotions being mortally wounded that you cut him off before he could explain", Her Mother revealed, now feeling triumphant as Chloe's face now turned pink with embarrassment.

However the feeling of triumph quickly disappeared as Chloe cried out, "Oh no!, He'll hate me forever now", and began crying bitterly.

Thus the rift continued, each afraid to call the other in fear of escalating tensions and causing a permanent parting of the ways.

XXXXXXX

A Month later and Kay was present at the studios, looking over a script for a new movie being shot, with high hopes from Producer and Director that they may well have a big blockbuster on their hands.

Unfortunately the young child Actor had still yet to sign a contract with the studio, owing to the increasingly greedy demands from the Actor's Father, who wrongly believed if he held out long enough the studio would be so desperate to begin filming, that they would pay him any amount he wanted. And the aforementioned Producer and Director were tearing their hair out as filming was set to begin in a weeks time.

Later at Kay's house that night, She discussed the problem at length with J.G, when Chloe, who had until now, only been half listening to her parents conversation suddenly piped up, "Get Wyatt to do it, He's good. I know he is, He must do it, please", she pleaded earnestly.

J.G stared at her, before acknowledging, "She's right, he was really great as the Artful Dodger in that musical".

"But Honey, we have to start filming in a weeks time?, and there is all those lines and directions where he needs to move to", Kay informed him.

"But if this Guy's Father's demands get any more outrageous you might not have a movie at all. The studios don't put up with too much of this garbage nowadays before they decide to cut their losses", J.G. explained.

Kay rang Penny, that very moment. But to her, and Chloe's immense disappointment. Wyatt turned it down. He informed her that the school musical was one thing but a movie?, no way that was too scary.

"Could you take me to Wyatt please", Chloe demanded of her father.

"It won't do any good Honey, Penny tried to reason with him but he's quite adamant".

"I can get him to do it, please, Let me try", Chloe begged as she looked wide eyed, up at her father in a very good imitation of the Shrek Movie's, Puss in Boots.

J.G. at seeing the identical pleading looks on both Chloe and her Mother's faces, relented.

XXXXXXX

Leonard opened the door to the insistent ringing of the door bell, and was somewhat startled as Chloe quickly brushed past him, and went looking for Wyatt.

"There you are", she said triumphantly as Wyatt lay in his usual position these last few weeks, listlessly laying on his bed.

"Now you listen here. If you want us to be friends again. Then you are doing that movie, yep, that's it, You Hofstadter can do it for me,Do you understand?", Chloe demanded, in a tone of voice to rival Bernadette's.

"Yes Chloe, OK, whatever you say", Wyatt, wide eyed in surprise, meekly told her.

"Well then, I guess that's OK then", she said, before she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. while Wyatt emitted the biggest sigh of relief ever.


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

 **Knotting Two**

 **Three years later** ,

And Wyatt's acting career had quickly rocketed him to stardom, Penny His Mother was now his agent, and had become so busy with this new aspect, that she sold her interior design company to Sandra and Kelly, Penny, had also been fortunate enough to appear with Wyatt in one of his movies, though not due to Wyatt's influence, but to the director, W. G, Gerrard, who immediately saw in Penny that she was so right for the part of one of the main characters in the movie, and as soon as he found out that Penny had acting experience, he immediately signed her up.

One Day, while Kay and her Daughter Chloe were at the stables, and unusually for Chloe that day, She seemed to totally lack any enthusiasm for jumps exercises, and so Kay decided that perhaps they could just go for a gentle ride together.

After some time of trying to engage Chloe in general conversation without success, Kay asked her Daughter outright if there was anything wrong?.

Chloe raised her head and as Kay noticed the pain on her Daughter's face, she waited with some dread as to the reason why.

"Well the other day when I entered the studio canteen, I noticed Wyatt was in deep conversation with Deanna, but as soon as they saw me they suddenly stopped, and Wyatt looked as though he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and Deanna suddenly left, greeting me briefly as she passed,

I asked Wyatt what were they talking about, and he just told me 'Oh this and that, nothing to worry about'. You don't suppose he's bored with Me?", Chloe asked.

"Was that Deanna Carlton?", Kay asked, as she struggled to think of an answer to Chloe's question.

"Yes that's right, she is playing the female lead opposite Wyatt in this movie", Chloe answered.

"I'm sure I read somewhere that she had just got engaged?, which seems very strange as she seems to be a steady character and has never been involved in any scandal like that at all, I didn't think she was the type to cheat?", Kay surmised, trying to make sense of this development.

"Perhaps She decided She loves Wyatt more, after all She is an award winning actress while I am only Wyatt's PA", Chloe pointed out gloomily.

"I was so hoping he would ask me to marry him, And now I don't think he will at all now, he'll probably tell me it's all over instead now", and Chloe collapsed in a flood of tears.

Later after Chloe had recovered a little, "it's a little bit soon though isn't it?, you marrying I mean. After all you're only nineteen", Kay pointed out.

"It seems that way, but I have been in love with him since I was Eleven, It was when Penny and her team were decorating your dressing room, Penny had to bring Wyatt along with her and you told me to show him my new pet rabbit, I remember that I was a little afraid that Wyatt would be too rough with Lucky, but Wow!, he was so gentle that Lucky fell asleep in his arms, and I remember thinking to myself how much I would like to be in Wyatt's arms, and I have felt that way ever since. I mean, I know that Eleven is far too young to fall in love, but as the years have passed by, my love for him has only grown stronger the more I learn about him, till now", Chloe explained, then added, "You see I have seen the love you and Dad have and also how so cute Wyatt's mum and Dad are together, and I want that too, But only with Wyatt

"Look Chloe, there is no simple answer, you will just have to ask Wyatt what was going on and tell him how insecure it is making you feel", Kay advised.

"But what if he ends things between us, I can't be without him now", Chloe explained brokenly.

"When are you seeing him next?", Kay asked.

"Tonight, He's taking me out to dinner", Chloe replied.

"OK, ask him tonight, and if it goes badly, well, you know I will be here for you", Kay told her.

And they rode silently back to the stables together.

XXXXXXX

Chloe despite her grim foreboding pulled out all the stops as she got ready, as though to convince Wyatt that Deanna Carlton could not hold a candle to Chloe in just who was more beautiful.

And when Wyatt arrived he gasped as he saw her and complimented her on how pretty she looked tonight, which made Chloe a little more confident that the night might not end so badly.

But all through dinner Wyatt seemed a little distracted, as though he was thinking of something else, (or Someone else?).

The dinner was soon at an end and already they were walking back to the car, and Chloe had still not gathered the required level of courage to broach the subject of their future together,nor did she have any inkling as to what Wyatt's intentions were.

And with a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach, Chloe looked at Wyatt as he started the engine, to make for home.

But to Chloe's surprise, Wyatt headed instead for the beach, their favourite place, and on arrival he asked Chloe if she would like to walk along the shore with him. Chloe acquiesced and convinced herself that Wyatt was not a cruel man therefore the termination of their relationship seemed unlikely, but Chloe puzzled as to exactly why had Wyatt brought them here? . As they walked along, Wyatt pointed out the stars, and how bright and clear they seemed tonight.

"Keep your lousy stars". Chloe thought sourly, then she declared how cold she was feeling and began to turn back towards the car when Wyatt stopped her, He turned towards her and to her utter surprise got down on one knee and holding out a ring he had surreptitiously retrieved from his pocket and asked Chloe for her hand in Marriage.

"What about Deanna?", Chloe asked him, now utterly puzzled by how unexpected this proposal was after convincing herself that things were on the downward turn between them.

"Deanna?, Oh, I suppose you mean that day when you came in when I was talking with her. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause you to be upset, But you see Deanna got engaged two weeks ago and I asked for her advice on proposing to you, I'm sorry, I was so afraid that you would not like anything that I would think up, so I simply got a woman's viewpoint on what she considered to be the most romantic proposal, and she told me that her fiance had taken her to their favourite place when he proposed.

So, as this place not only being where we first met, but has also given us so many very happy times together, I thought I would propose to you here?, I hope that I have done OK?", Wyatt explained, then when Chloe saw the love and concern for her so evident in his beautiful brown eyes, And now, with her emotions already in turmoil, Chloe threw her arms around him and wept , while at the same time telling him in a loud voice, "Oh-yes, Yes please".

XXXXXXX

All that evening, Kay and J.G. had been nervously sitting in the lounge, without even being aware as to what program was playing on T.V. at all, and dreading how this rejection might affect their Daughter.

And both were then utterly surprised to hear her Daughter's happy excited laughter, along with Wyatt's as they returned,

and upon entering the lounge Kay was suddenly aware that Chloe had extended her left hand towards her Mother, a hand now adorned with the most beautiful diamond engagement ring on the third finger of said left hand.

An ecstatic J.G immediately opened a bottle of Jack Daniels, and while Chloe and her Mother made do with a glass of Chardonnay each, Wyatt and her father busily saw to the "unpleasant" task of emptying the Whisky bottle together.

As the newly engaged couple sat together in the kitchen while Wyatt sipped at a now much needed black coffee, Chloe confessed, "you took me quite by surprise, I thought I would have to wait a bit longer before you asked me?".

"Yeah, I guess a lot of folks might think we're a bit young", Wyatt admitted.

"So, why now?, not that I'm complaining, in fact I'm on cloud nine, but just out of interest?", Chloe asked.

"Well, it was a week or so ago, My Mom along with me in tow, dropped in to see Aunt Bernadette, and while they chatted together, I helped Howard move some stuff in his garage, when he let slip something about my Father. I knew Dad had a bad accident years ago, but apparently it affected my Mom very badly, Please don't let on I told you, But the shock to her system was so great that she had to spend some time in a psychiatric hospital.", Wyatt began.

"I didn't know that, Oh how awful, how did your dad cope?", Chloe gasped at the revelation.

"Well, it seems Dad was in a coma at first, and when he came out of it, of course they had to tell him about Mom, which was what started uncle Howard to reveal the secret, we were talking about how best we could lift a very heavy cabinet, when Uncle Howard remarked, "how he could have let Dad move it with his super Human strength, and that's when I asked what he meant by that, then he told me the whole story", Wyatt elucidated.

"So how is this to do with your proposing to me?", Chloe asked.

"It seemed that Dad went bat crap crazy over the news of Mom's mental state, so much so that it took all of them to stop Him from busting right out of there and going to her. It was only after the Doctor in attendance gave him a powerful sedative that they could calm him down at all. And I got to thinking, what would I do if I was in Dad's position. Then I knew, I'd do exactly the same for you. I love you so much Chloe, Like my Dad, with my Mom, you are the most important person in my life, and when Mom found out what Dad did, in spite of his injuries. It moved her to want to make their relationship more permanent. And I realized in that moment, that I wanted the same thing for us. I know it's easy to say Chloe, but I know I would've done exactly the same.

You know, I've often wondered what made my Mom and Dad such an extraordinarily close couple, I guess now, I know. And I firmly believe that we could be as close as that too", Wyatt finished, as he looked intensely into her eyes.

"Oh yes My Darling, I so want that too", Chloe revealed fervently.

XXXXXXX

The couple had planned to tell Wyatt's parents the next day. But Kay was adamant, "I know Penny, and if I didn't make you two tell her now, then I know for certain that I would be losing one of my dearest friends ever, and now we are to be related by marriage, it is even more important that you two go over there now and tell them personally, NOW!".

"But Mom, it's gone midnight. And neither Wyatt or I, are in a fit state to drive", Chloe reasoned.

Kay's answer was to reach for her car keys, "OK you two lovebirds, Move!".

XXXXXXX

The excitement in the Hofstadter household rivaled that of Kay's family's, and Wyatt instead of Whisky, joined his Father in a celebratory cup of coffee, while Penny had no such qualms, as she immediately opened a bottle of peach schnapps and soon Chloe was as sloshed as Wyatt.

And Wyatt and Leonard was soon startled at the sight of Penny and Chloe excitedly dancing together in ecstasy at this wonderful event.

Chloe, in spite of her tiredness as well as the half bottle of peach schnapps sitting in her stomach, mulled for a while over the past events of the day, as she caressed the diamond of her ring in ecstasy.

Soon after she began her friendship with Wyatt, she had been a little surprised one day, when she visited Wyatt at his house, only to see Penny get very stressed, when Leonard was late home one day.

At the time Chloe thought that Penny was one of those people that lived on their nerves, always on edge constantly, but now after hearing about Leonard's accident, and Penny's reaction to, suddenly everything made sense, the reason for Penny's stress that day and even up to now she would still be the same if Leonard was even a little late, it certainly made sense of the reason why Penny seemed to always touch her husband. Now Chloe knew why, For Penny needed to reassure herself that Leonard was there and was absolutely fine,

In fact Leonard too would smile lovingly at Penny, knowing it would help her relax.

Chloe herself had been blessed with loving parents, but having two sets of loving Parents was an absolute bonus, she smiled at remembering earlier as Penny insisted despite it being one O'clock in the Morning, standing them in front of the Jacaranda tree and taking the happy couple's picture, (With some difficulty, as Penny, suffered both from the effects of the schnapps and also the happy tears that she had to keep wiping away in order to see through the viewfinder. and on that final memory. Chloe surrendered to the effects of the schnapps and tiredness, and feeling much more secure for their future lives together.

XXXXXXX

At the studios on Monday, Chloe was overwhelmed by an excited Deanna who caught Chloe in a tight hug, and said, "Congratulations, I'm so happy for you, I'm sorry if my talking with Wyatt gave you the wrong idea, but I swear to you, that I am totally in love with my own fiance, and I tell you girl, you should see Wyatt's eyes shine when he talks about you, perhaps you can talk to my Beau about me then you can tell me if his eyes shine as much. Seriously though, you must realize, as Wyatt is so famous now, he will be very attractive to hundred's of the most beautiful women, so please be assured that he is totally and absolutely without reservation in love with you", Deanna told her earnestly.

"Thank you Deanna, not only for your congratulations. But more importantly, for telling me something I really needed to hear", Chloe told her gratefully.

"My pleasure girl, now promise me, we can look for wedding dresses together, Oh my I am so excited, this next scene I'm doing is such a sad one, boy I am going to be in so much trouble with the director now as I don't think I can stop smiling", Deanna joked.

And true to Chloe's word for the next few months, Chloe, Kay and Deanna would set aside time to search for wedding dresses together.

Chloe and Wyatt did have a little disagreement, as Chloe was determined to plan and organize her wedding herself, while Wyatt was worried over the enormous amount of work that Chloe would be snowed under with. But finally after Chloe pointed out that a professional wedding planner might tip off the press that there is something big going on, and Wyatt finally agreed after convincing Chloe to please let family members help.

The search for a wedding venue, posed quite a few problems. For the couple had their hearts set on a quiet family affair, with some close friends only, and any public venue would again, be likely to be invaded by fans as well as paparazzi, in fact Kay and J.G's own wedding was almost spoilt by some of the more determined paparazzi, if it was not for the vigilance of the staff on security, there was no telling what might have happened.

But a solution was found as Chloe looked through the album of Penny and Leonard's album and Chloe like Penny decided to have her own wedding in the barn. And by sending photographs of the wedding later to some of the more popular magazines, it would ensure that both Chloe and the press were satisfied.

For the Honeymoon Venue too, Chloe decided to take advantage of Leonard's offer of the cabin at Lake McConaughy as 1) it was in an isolated spot by the lake, and 2) it was unlikely for the Paparazzi to suddenly descend on them en masse.

However as soon as they had heard of Chloe's plans for their honeymoon, both Penny and Kay were really hoping very much, that as Kay had fallen pregnant with Chloe at the cabin, and Penny had fallen for Honey Marie at the same location, that perhaps Chloe too might follow in the family tradition., in fact at the thought of her first grandchild, Kay immediately began daydreaming of proudly pushing her grandchild along in it's stroller.

However that may or not be the near future. But for now Penny's Brother Kenny and the hands were now busily preparing the barn for another wedding, Wyatt, Penny's Father being now at an advanced age. Was contented with just making the odd suggestion to help. Meanwhile Penny's Mom, Marcia, was in daily contact with Penny discussing the fare for the wedding and making sure all her preparations were done on time, with the help of the younger female members of Penny's family.

so the weeks passed, all the friends would be staying in local hotels while Kay, J.G., Penny, Leonard, Chloe and Wyatt would be staying at the farm.

Finally a couple of days before the wedding Penny, hand in hand with Leonard went to check on the barn, "Oh my God it's beautiful", Penny gasped in awe, as she looked around at the now decorated barn.

"Kind of reminds you of ours doesn't it", Leonard said, as he thought back to the most wonderful day of his life.

"Yes Honey, it certainly does", Penny agreed as she moved to that same spot where she stood as a bride.

"I can still see your face, as you walked towards me.

You know if you had never told me before, you loved me, I would have known simply by the look on your face back then", Penny informed him as she felt the first happy tears start to run down her cheeks.

"It's funny, but if I could have anything I wanted to experience again, I would choose every minute that I have had you in my life", Leonard told her truthfully, as he remembered the face of his beautiful bride.

Penny was so touched by his words that all she could say was "Leonard", from the heart.

Then the couple repeated their dance at their prom do-over,accompanied only by the music in their minds. As the happy images of their lives together, drifted through their shared memories.

"I can't believe that the day I moved into apartment 4b, that I would meet the very special guy who would make my life so happy, I mean I was really at such a low point then, having just been cheated on by Kurt, and stuck in a job as a waitress, and to think I would have you, and our four wonderful children, and three lovely Grandchildren, that I would not only have that, but also to have success in interior design, and also as an actress on TV,. It's so unbelievable that I could have achieved so much now, I mean it's like 'Wow'", Penny revealed as she thought back.

"Well much of that success was only due to your hard work and talent for design, Honey", Leonard reminded her.

"Yes true, but think Leonard, would I have enjoyed the same whole hearted support from anyone else but you?, You have helped greatly in making my success possible, frankly I am totally convinced that I have the best Husband in the whole wide world, I tell you the truth, I could not have done any of it without you my Darling", and holding each other even closer they continued their dance.

XXXXXXX

Soon the special day had arrived, and thanks to the hard work of all the family members on both sides, and Chloe's own organizational skills everything was ready, Deanna Carlton was thrilled to be Chloe's Matron of honour while Wyatt, who had no real close friends, delighted his father, as well as Bernadette, by asking his father's old friend, Howard to be best man.

So with Honey Marie's little girl as bridesmaid, holding a small basket of freesias, she held Deanna's hand as they began walking down the aisle behind Chloe, who, just as Penny did on her wedding day, was concentrating very hard to store away carefully, the look on Wyatt's face as he turned to look at his Bride.

Both Kay and Penny were in tears at the sheer happiness of seeing their respective offspring taking this life changing step, with Penny tightly holding Leonard's hand, which was later mirrored by Kay who lovingly took J.G's hand as soon as he had sat down. Everyone had bated breath as the minister declared them man and wife, which signalled the release, as all clapped and cheered as Wyatt and Chloe shared their first kiss as Husband and Wife, partners for life.

At the reception as Penny danced closely with Leonard, she gazed around at the other couples, Elizabeth was staring into her husband peregrine's eyes, Bernadette was in a close embrace with Howard as they danced, Kay was smiling as she shared some observations with her Husband , J.G., even Sheldon, Penny noted would often check to see where Amy was, if she was away from him for a little while, he had certainly changed, Amy was now his rock, and it seemed Sheldon was being very careful to keep his wife by his side constantly Honey Marie, held her little sleeping bridesmaid Daughter on her lap as she leant against her Husband, while the twins were busily discussing some latest physics paper with Samuel Wolowitz, and Isaac Cooper, the only sad part was that Mike had been taken ill shortly before the wedding and Leonard's Mother Beverley though she was eager to attend the wedding felt unable to leave her sick husband behind. Though Penny was pleased with Wyatt and Chloe's plan to go round and personally show the movie and photographs of the wedding, "After all, Mike helped me enormously in not only my first performance in the school play, but also it got Chloe to notice me", Wyatt surmised.

Penny had nodded, deciding to let Chloe herself reveal to Wyatt that she had noticed him a lot earlier than Wyatt thought.

That night as Penny lay snuggled up in Leonard's arms, she thought of all the people, family dear friends, how important they had become to her, she certainly could not do without any of them now.

Her girls nights, indeed were such a delight, all of her friends would defend her to their last breath,yes quite often her girls nights were the highlight of the week, The guys, Howard, how he had changed form that creepy guy, to a loving husband and father, Raj who had a few months ago had taken up a post as professor of astrophysics in Mumbai, but had sent his congratulations, as well as a beautiful pink sari for Chloe.

Yes Penny had come a long way from being a miserable and depressed young woman, to the incredible state of happiness she was in now, "I've been so blessed, thanks mostly to this wonderful guy laying beside me, and then happy and satisfied, she went to sleep.


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

 **Shy of Retiring?**

The next Morning, Penny and Leonard rose early to wave the newlyweds as they left for their honeymoon at Lake McConaghy.

Though early as they were, it was no surprise to Penny to find Kay and J.G. also waiting to give their farewells, and the two, still a little tearful, women greeted each other with a warm hug and a smile.

Soon Chloe and Wyatt appeared with their cases and while the new couple said their goodbyes to Penny and Kay, as Leonard and J.G. put the couples cases in the trunk.

Soon Chloe and Wyatt were but a distant speck on the horizon, sadly Penny turned to Leonard and decided to choose that moment to share her fears with him, "I can't believe it, that's the last one gone now, What on earth will we do with ourselves now?, I mean the house won't feel the same at all now", Penny observed sadly, before beginning to weep.

Leonard immediately began to move towards his wife to comfort her, but was beaten to it by Kay, who had also came to the same conclusion.

After both the women had recovered their composure, Kay revealed her plans to Penny.

J.G. and I are going to move into a smaller house, you see, as the media is more interested in young actors like Wyatt and others, things have pretty much quietened down for J.G and myself, so we don't need to live in a gated community now. I hope you don't mind my not consulting you or Leonard. But We thought We would give the house to Wyatt and Chloe".

Penny was not at all put out, "But that's Wonderful. That way they won't be too far away, living at Tarzana", Penny told Kay excitedly, then added as her eyes opened wide in realization, "And with seven bedrooms...", Penny began.

"...They can fill them up with Grandchildren", Kay finished for her.

And both the faces of the two women lit up in a sort of dreamy fashion as they imagined holding lots of grandchildren.

XXXXXXX

On the plane home.

"I was just thinking over Kay and J.G's plans to move into a smaller place. Now our four have all grown up and left home, why don't we move somewhere smaller?", Leonard suggested.

"Yeah, I guess we could. Hey it could be just like we used to live together at the apartment in Los Robles", Penny remarked.

"Yeah, but only better, As there would be no Sheldon living there there too this time", Leonard reminded her.

"Oh my God, I had almost forgotten. You know I really really don't think I could cope with him now, at all. And we could get a place nearer our favourite beach", Penny suggested hopefully.

"Yeah I still love that place. I have such great memories from there", Leonard confessed.

"Just as long as one of those great memories isn't that day when you met Ann Hathaway?", Penny asked him with a slight edge to her voice.

"Not at all, I hurt you, and it will be something I will always regret, that I should have included you instead of giving you cause for concern, and no doubt you will also remember, she was only interested in Physics, and certainly not me. As I was only interested in you, not Ann", Leonard reminded her.

"Thank you sweetie, I know I was being silly, but somehow I just couldn't help feeling left out", Penny explained.

"Penny I love you, and all your little ways are what make you unique, and I love that about you. You know in a way it reminds me, how much you care for me, so no need to apologize, especially after all these years", Leonard summed up.

Bernadette who was sitting behind them with a sleeping Howard, then leaned forward and spoke to Penny, "and if he does it again Penny, let me know and I'll let him have it both barrels", she joked.

Penny turned to smile at her dearest friend, "Thank you, you are certainly my guardian angel", Penny told her.

Just then the air hostess approached with the drinks trolley and Penny's attention was then taken up by her glass of wine and her magazine.

XXXXXXX

By the time they reached home, The couple felt too tired to discuss moving and after a quick drink of relaxing hot chocolate together they headed for bed.

The next day as Penny loaded the breakfast things into the dishwasher, she remembered their conversation on the plane and began to think about the type of place she would like most. But as she gazed out her kitchen window at her garden, she spied the small mound which was where Norman her beloved dog was buried, at the ripe old age of 18. Suddenly for Penny, the garden became full of memories of the passing years, The Day Leonard planted the Jacaranda tree, while Penny was pregnant with Honey Marie and helped by giving Leonard instructions. The Day they opened the door and showed little Honey Marie the present of her Wendy house, She remembered Leonard and herself chorusing a cute "AWWW", at the sight of their little girl in her fluffy slippers, running down the path eager to start playing in it.

Then as one child playing in the garden became three, then four, as the twins Angela and April, and then later Wyatt arrived.

She studied the garden chairs under her tree, where Leonard and herself often enjoyed a chat and a coffee together.

And as her mind filled with the happy memories of Family and friends, Penny began to cry at the thought that they would soon be moving away.

Leonard, who at that moment had brought his empty coffee cup into the kitchen for a refill took one look at his wife's face and knew Penny was totally unable to say goodbye to their house and leave.

And it was somewhat of a relief too for Leonard. for he Himself, had had memories of a very excited Penny working hard to decorate their first house herself, the precious moments when Penny fell pregnant with the twins and Wyatt, the romantic dinners they often shared together once the children were asleep. The kids Parties, and dinners with close friends and family, and as the memories flowed, Leonard in that very moment, knew all too well, that he would not be able to leave here either.

"I've been thinking Honey, how could we put any of our kids, and grandkids up when they visit us, if we moved to a smaller place?, I wondered if it would be better if we stayed here instead", Leonard asked her.

Penny's only reply was to tearfully rush towards her husband and gratefully hug him tight, before kissing him passionately in gratitude. That evening they sat close together and revisited the precious memories, by looking through Penny,s photo album.

XXXXXXX

Penny's only occupation now, besides running the home, was working as Wyatt's agent and gradually the increased free time it left her began to bother her. For Leonard was still working five days a week at Cal tech, and Penny began to feel that their remaining days together were too precious to be wasted being apart from each other like this, and so she decided to have a heart to heart with Leonard on the matter. For this matter became more important for Penny the older they got.

Leonard did not take much convincing, for over the passing years, his asthma had got worse, in fact just a couple of months ago he had had a rather bad attack that really frightened Penny very much, and resulted in him having to spend a couple of nights in the local hospital for observation. Which also caused his beloved Penny a measure of distress. Yes Penny was absolutely right, time was too short, and Leonard's world was Penny and vice versa, and also as they were very comfortable financially now, Leonard could afford to take early retirement.

One big problem stood in his way, As head of Physics at Cal-Tech, Leonard had to recommend his successor to the board, and the only suitable candidate was his Mother's Husband's Niece Andrea. But would the board view Leonard's choice of Andrea, only because of his relation to her through his Mother?, and further how would his own Daughter April feel when she learned about Leonard's choosing Andrea over her. The next few weeks became quite stressful for Leonard as he was reluctant to tell Penny about his problem, thinking that she might not understand his position. Also the more Leonard held off from informing President Arden, over his intention to retire, the more Penny would bring the subject up, and too the longer he left it the more worried Penny got that Leonard was reluctant to spend more time with her, Therefore the increasing stress caused Leonard's asthma to deteriorate further resulting in Penny nagging Leonard more about him retiring, it was just a vicious circle.

Things finally came to a head when President Arden had a meeting with all the department heads, and during his discussion on the plans for the physics department next year, President Arden informed Leonard of his idea that Leonard could do a tour of all research companies in California, and discuss with them, on which particular projects the university may be able to help them with their research, President Arden's idea was that these could be examined and sorted into those projects the undergrad students could work on while at the same time, it would also widen the range of research in order for them to gain valuable experience in achieving their PhD's. While other projects could be researched by senior staff, with the aim of attracting more funding for the university.

Leonard inwardly began to panic, as it seemed things were now escalating out of his control. If Penny learned that Leonard would be roaming all over the State instead of spending more time with her, Then Penny would be quite likely to go off the deep end to an extreme degree.

All this then resulted in Leonard having a bad attack of his asthma. Fortunately Dr Howard Wolowitz , as assistant head was also present at the meeting and helped Leonard back to his office, after Leonard refused to be taken to medical.

"OK Leonard, What's up, I saw the rabbit in the headlights look on your face, so don't try to kid me that things are OK?", Howard told him, as Leonard recovered in his office.

After some difficulty at first in trying to speak, Leonard told Howard about his predicament and Howard immediately had a brainwave, as soon as he reached his own office he rang Bernadette.

Bernadette thought the problem through over a cup of coffee. For first someone, who is not a member of April's family, perhaps after commenting on Leonard's poor health lately, and his need to take things easy, would then need to ask April who she would like to see as department head in place of Leonard?. Bernadette had been aware for sometime over Leonard's worsening asthma, and if anything happened to Leonard, It wouldn't bear thinking about what effect it would have on Penny?. She would never forget how bad Penny got after Leonard's accident before, it was just too awful to see. No Bernadette was quite determined that this will never happen again to Penny, not if Bernadette had anything to do with it.

After an hour or so of deliberation, Bernadette ran Howard back, "Howard, is Samuel available?", Bernadette inquired.

Howard checked the time, "He should just be back from lunch, so I doubt if he has yet to start again?", Howard told her feeling puzzled as to why Bernadette would want to speak to their Son?.

"Thanks, I'll ring you back later. How is Leonard doing by the way?", She asked him, hoping for Penny that Leonard would not need another stay in the Hospital.

"He's getting there"Howard informed her.

"Good, now please don't tell Penny, at least until I have talked to her. Hopefully we can get Leonard's retirement back on track", Then breathing a sigh of relief Bernadette ended the call, and began to ring Samuel.

XXXXXXX

April was busy writing some more notes on her findings when Samuel Wolowitz knocked and entered.

"Hi Sam, what can I do for you?", April asked him.

"I had just had a call from Mom, I understand your Dad has not been too well lately", Samuel told her.

"Yeah my Mom's getting real worried", April admitted.

"Yes, Mom was wondering if Leonard was going to retire, I guess she thinks Uncle Leonard's health might improve", Samuel told her.

"I wish he would, my Mom would be so pleased if he did, I know.", April admitted.

"So I guess you would be taking over from him then?", Samuel asked her.

"No way, I'm far too interested in this project for the time being. It's so vitally important. If we are ever going to rely totally on green energy then it is vital that we improve the capacity and efficiency of energy storage, I've been working on this for two years and I'm going to need another four years at least", April informed him.

"Oh", Samuel said, _'it seems solving Leonard's predicament would be easier than Mom thought'_. He thought to himself.

"So Then, Who would you like to be head of physics?", Samuel asked her.

"That's easy, Andrea is the best candidate, everybody knows that, don't you think so?", April asked him.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, I reckon she would be pretty good at the job. Well, nice talking with you, I have to run now, I hope your Dad gets better soon", Samuel said.

"OK Sam thank you, See you, take care".

And Samuel quickly left April's lab to call his mother back.

Howard picked up his cell and seeing that the caller was his wife he accepted the call, "Hi Honey, What did Samuel find out?", Howard asked.

Bernadette let Howard know how things went with April, "Wow, that sure takes a load off Leonard's mind", Howard told her in relief.

"And Penny's", Bernadette reminded him, Then added, "Tell Leonard all he has to do is inform the board he has a conflict of interest, and then he can give his recommendation of Andrea, and then he can tell the board, that he has full confidence in the board's ability to select the best candidate", She instructed.

"So Leonard will be passing the buck on to the board. I like it", Howard told her.

"Hey, It's not like that, Leonard needs rest now, so it's for Leonard and Penny's sake, or don't you care about our dearest friends", Bernadette demanded in that familiar voice so like Howard's Mother's.

"Of course I do, I've known Leonard now for years", Howard told her, defensively.

The very next Day Leonard submitted his plans to take early retirement and did exactly as Bernadette suggested in declaring a conflict of interest while still recommending April for his position.

And as April pointed out to Samuel everyone knew that Andrea would be the ideal replacement, including the board. And over the next month Andrea worked alongside Leonard until his last day as head of physics.

Bernadette, once Leonard had submitted his request to the board visited Penny and told her all that had been going on, and Penny was utterly relieved that Leonard was not trying to avoid her,

"So, Why didn't you tell me all this in the first place?", Penny asked of Leonard, after her conversation with Bernadette.

"I guess I thought you might not understand", Leonard admitted.

"And that's because you always over think things. Leonard, Honey, I am your Wife, Do you not think I am aware of how much you care and how much you hate disappointing people?. Never mind, everything's fine now." And everything got even better, the first day of Leonard's retirement when Penny awoke and instead of seeing her husband getting ready to got to work, Leonard turned towards her and pulled her against him, Penny sighed happily as she fell back to sleep wrapped in her Husband's arms.


	39. A new adventure

**Chapter 39**

 **A new adventure**

One day at the Right Start Baby store:-

"Penny, visiting time will be drawing to an end by the time we get there?", Leonard frantically informed Penny as he pointed to the time on his cell.

"Oh but Leonard sweetie, just one thing more, please", Penny pleaded as she gave her Husband her little girl lost look that always made Leonard feel weak at the knees.

"Not only did we spend too much time at the Soap Kitchen then you make me stop here when we already have gifts for the new Baby, And so far we have got 3 baby blankets several Onesies, anything else and Chloe will be overwhelmed with things, after all, all the other relatives will be buying things for them too", Leonard pointed out.

"Oh but Leonard, the Soap Kitchen stop was to get gifts for Chloe, After all her hard work that girl needs pampering, and if you please I'd just like to get one more thing for the baby?", Penny begged him again.

"OK Penny, just one more thing then and then we will have to run", Leonard acquiesced. But could not resist smiling all the same, as once again he saw Penny's great big caring heart in operation.

Quickly Penny grabbed a snow white teddy bear and they rushed for the checkout.

XXXXXXX

"I'm going to call him Mr Dumplings", Penny declared holding up the teddy bear as they made their way in the car.

"Honey you do realize that that teddy is for our latest grandchild?", Leonard reminded her.

"I know that, but Mr Dumplings so fits him and I am sure our new Granddaughter will certainly agree with me", Penny declared, in a tone to quell any more argument from Leonard.

"But she's only...", Leonard began before seeing the stern look on his wife's face, then he wisely decided to say no more on the subject.

"Have they chosen a name for her yet?", Leonard asked her.

"They have but Wyatt wants to reveal it to us when we are there in person for some reason", Penny answered.

XXXXXXX

"Hi I'm sorry we are late", Leonard breathlessly apologized, then added, "I guess visiting time is nearly over?", he asked regretfully.

Kay who was already there with her Daughter told them soothingly, "It's OK. For the price of a few autographs from lover boy here", She said indicating Wyatt, "The staff have agreed to turn a blind eye. Now then I guess, Wyatt, your up", Kay said mysteriously.

"Mom, Dad I'd like you to meet your newest grandchild, 'Penny'", then he placed the baby girl into Penny's arms.

"But, surely would you not want to name her after your own Mother?", She asked Chloe.

But Kay answered, "No Penny, for you started this happy event the day you brought J.G. and myself together, this gorgeous little bundle of love is all due to you. J.G. and I, have had such a happy marriage thanks to you, and now I know Chloe is so very happy with Wyatt thanks to the loving upbringing you and Leonard have given him, Which I must say has resulted in a very fine responsible young man, So then, now say hello to little Penny", Kay explained.

Penny looked down at the tiny baby in her arms, "Welcome sweetie, it's so nice to meet you, my you are such a pretty girl aren't you", Penny cooed at her new Granddaughter.

Meanwhile Chloe was looking through the gifts from her in laws, and was appreciating her Mother in law's thoughtfulness for the Onesies there was only two for newborn the rest were gradually larger sizes as the baby grew, the blankets would always be very useful, she opened the second bag and gasped in delight at the soaps, bath oils, talc, etc, "Thank you Mom Two, these things I so badly need", Chloe told Penny Indicating the Soap Kitchen gifts. And already smelling the scented aroma from the bath she was determined to take as soon as little Penny was asleep

Chloe smiled as she turned her attention to the cute teddy bear, "Mr dumplings", she said to the bear, "that name really does fit him doesn't it", Chloe delightedly agreed".

"Penny just smiled in reply, before poking her tongue out at Leonard.

and once Penny had returned little Penny back to her Mother, Chloe introduced little Penny to Mr Dumplings. And ever after that Mr Dumplings became little Penny's favourite toy.

They all chatted for a while with Penny giving excellent advice to Wyatt, telling him how important it was to do his share of caring for his daughter and thus giving Chloe some very valuable me time.

Soon it was time to leave and Penny rose from her chair but immediately feeling faint at seemingly rising too quickly, she reached out for the bed to steady herself but blacked out and missed and before anyone could help her she struck her head on the end of the bed.

XXXXXXXX

Penny eventually returned to consciousness, and was immediately concerned at the worried look on her husband's face for her, he was literally white faced with fear.

"I'm OK sweetie, really", Penny told him soothingly as she tried to sit up.

Just then a Doctor entered the room, "Aah Mrs Hofstadter, back in the land of the living eh, Let's have a look at you, Hmmm, large contusion on area of right temple, How many fingers am I holding up?", He asked her.

"Three", Penny answered correctly. Then added, "What happened?, suddenly I just come over faint then everything went black?".

"Hypo tension, low blood pressure in other words, did you have breakfast this morning?", Dr Brown asked her.

"No, we were in rather a hurry to get here", Penny admitted.

"And just as much in a hurry to get in a bed here it seems", Dr Brown guffawed at his own joke, which Leonard feeling quite shaken over his wife's sudden illness, felt too concerned to join in.

"How old are you Mrs Hofstadter?", Dr Brown asked her.

"64", Penny told him reluctantly.

"Hmm, I'd say with the combination of your age and the Hypo, also It could be that your blood sugar was low too, so the two together would likely affect you in that manner. We do not need to give you any drugs, just maybe some ibuprofen to reduce swelling and some painkillers if needed, I would like to keep you in for observation as you took quite a blow to your head, though I expect to let you return home after assessment at mid morning tomorrow if no complications rear their ugly head, concussion that sort of thing", after which Dr Brown left.

"I'm sorry for overreacting, but your head did hit the end of the bed rather hard", Leonard told her still looking rather shaken up at his wife's distress.

"Sweetie, I'm OK, honest", Penny told him becoming a little alarmed at how still pale Leonard looked.

"Sorry, I guess I'm not ready to lose you", Leonard admitted.

"Leonard it's OK, low blood pressure is not uncommon and usually it quickly sorts itself out. It was just one of those things, Really", Penny informed Leonard , hoping to alleviate his distress.

XXXXXX

The next day Penny was examined and given the all clear, and a much relieved Leonard brought Penny home. That evening Leonard discovered that things could be difficult for him if Penny ever went out in public though.

Because for a while she would be sporting two beautiful black eyes, and the loud shriek uttered by Bernadette later, as she entered the Hofstadter house confirmed Leonard's unease when Bernadette immediately rounded on Leonard as the cause of said black eyes.

"Yep you tell him Bernadette, he is a real bully to me", Penny told her, extracting all the humour from the horrified look on Leonard's face.

Finally as Bernadette noted the suspicious giggling from Penny, Penny confessed and told Bernadette the truth much to Leonard's relief.

"Chloe's had the baby?, Oh do let me see the photo's". Bernadette gushed.

And leaving the pair to swoon over the photo's of little Penny, Leonard left to make some coffee for them all.

Leonard returned after a while with their coffees on a tray and took a nervous glance at Bernadette, who then could not hold her laughter back any longer to Leonard's surprise. "It's OK Leonard, Oh my God did you see his face, Penny rang and warned me while you were out getting take out. Oh this is too funny", then turning to Penny, Bernadette told her, "Truly, I was so sure he was going to wet his pants when I screamed".

"I'm sorry sweetie, I couldn't resist it. I was thinking, People are bound to wonder though if I am a battered wife when they see me so I rang Bernadette and we cooked this up", Penny confessed, but to Leonard's chagrin Penny was still giggling over her joke.

Penny soon stopped giggling however when she noticed that Leonard seemed somewhat upset, "Leonard you don't look happy, Have I crossed a line?", Penny asked him.

"No Honey it's just me, I guess I overreacted when you got hurt. It was just the shock of it all you see, really it's my bad. ", Leonard explained.

Penny rose and threw her arms around her husband to console him, "I think we both over react when we see the other hurting, I confess when you had to stay for a while in hospital because of your asthma, I was searching all night on the net for a drug that might work for you. I guess I too found that very hard to deal with too, you being sick and not here with me", Penny confessed.

After a little while Penny spoke again.

"I should have thought, I'm sorry, you didn't deserve that", Penny apologized contritely.

Leonard took his wife in his arms again, "Hey, don't be!, I told you Honey. It's my bad".

XXXXXXX

The next three months passed quietly, with the couple enjoying their retirement together:-

Until one evening when the doorbell rang:

Penny was stunned at the presence of two high ranking USAAF officers standing on her doorstep.

"Is Dr Leonard Hofstadter available Ma'am", said the one who somehow reminded Penny of her late Grandfather,

"Yes, of course, please, do come in", Penny told them hospitably.

Grandfather and the younger man entered removing their caps as they did so, and Penny led them to the lounge.

After being dismissed somewhat rudely by the younger man, saying that this conversation was classified, Penny busied herself in the kitchen by emptying the dishwasher, and rather vigorously threw the cutlery into the drawer, and muttering under her breath that she will not be too pleased at all if Leonard dares to go back to work for the government.

XXXXXXX

Leonard meanwhile was just as puzzled as Penny at the appearance of these officers, who introduced themselves to him, as General Rawlinson, "Grandfather", And Colonel Thompson, "The Rude Man".

"I'll get straight to the point", General Rawlinson began after Leonard had examined their I. D's.

"Last week , A Lineman working in a remote area outside the city at about 07:00 hours, and discovered the body of a middle aged man lying on the dirt track, the corpse was still holding onto the leash of a terrier dog.", General Rawlinson explained as he handed Leonard some forensic photographs of the scene.

Leonard puzzled as he examined the photographs, He just could not understand why on earth this concerned him?, _'real cute dog though_ ', Leonard thought as he handed the photographs back.

"Now this is where it gets kinda crazy, this guy set out from his house at 16:00 hours in the afternoon of the same day, from his home in London's East end, England about an hour before the body was discovered here in the USA".

Leonard looked up sharply, ' _were these guys just winding him up, surely this tomfoolery could not have been cooked up by Penny, could it?. But then again I've just seen their I. D's?",_ He looked at the Colonel, the seriousness on his face sure discounted any foolishness on his part.

"How on earth is that possible?, England are eight hours ahead of us?, surely he couldn't get from England to the USA in an hour?" , "Surely this must be a hoax", Leonard asked them in disbelief.

"Nope, the dog was chipped to a London address, the guy's bank card was issued in England. All his clothing, shoes, etc were bought in England and finally his wife confirmed he was her husband and also the details of the time he left his house, she even had a wedding photograph of the couple hanging upon her lounge wall.

We did a background check, and found out that this guy had never been abroad, He had never been issued with a passport either. So Dr Hofstadter the only way he could get here is by...".

"A wormhole!", Leonard finished for him, incredulously.

"So where did he take his dog?", Leonard asked.

"Well according to his wife, every afternoon he takes his dog to a recreational area, locally called, The Hackney marshes.

"It's used mainly for local soccer games, and for, like John Doe here, dog walking", Colonel Thompson

explained.

Leonard began to think. "How long had the body been there?", He asked finally.

"Forensics estimate his death at being about 35 minutes before he was found", The General informed him examining his notes.

"How long does it take to walk from his house to the marshes?", Leonard asked.

"We estimate about 35 minutes" The Colonel supplied, "So that would mean that thing hit him almost as soon as he arrived?", The Colonel guessed.

"Not necessarily, you see a wormhole not only shortens distance, but it can also alter time, so he could have been there an hour or more before he stumbled into the wormhole. But a stable wormhole needs a great deal of negative energy in order for it to remain long enough for anyone to travel through it, also how anything could survive the enormous gravitational fields within the wormhole to even come through it in one piece, It just doesn't make sense?", Leonard puzzled more to himself than the officers.

"Well Doctor, that's what we want you to find out", The General told him, then continued, "you wrote a paper a few years ago on the possibilities of generating a type of wormhole that could be traveled?".

"Well yes but that technology isn't even in it's infancy today. You're looking at another thousand years or so of research at least?", Leonard informed them.

"Well Doctor, as John Doe here has discovered to his cost, someone has done it, and you are going to find out how", The Colonel demanded in no uncertain terms.

"Well then Dr Hofstadter, we'll leave to inform your Wife that you are going to be very busy from now on", The General informed him as he rose to leave, then added, "We'll be in touch", as he handed a buff envelope containing some instructions, to Leonard.

XXXXXXX

Penny showed the officers to the door, itching to be rid of them quickly before she can confront Leonard over what on earth they wanted with him?.

Leonard quickly thought, how on earth he could tell Penny?, she is sure to go off the deep end. As if Leonard himself was reluctant to come out of retirement, life here with Penny had grown very comfortable indeed, and to work again?, "It's the very last thing I want to do", he told himself.

Leonard's worst fears were realized as Penny exploded before leaving, slamming the front door violently in further evidence of the state of her feelings.

Leonard sadly sat back down and ruefully hoped it wasn't too long before Penny calmed down and returned.

He pulled the papers from the envelope, in order to begin reading, and seeing if he could get out of this mess the Army had got him into when an air ticket slipped out, and fell to the floor.

He picked it up and groaned, Leonard was required to fly out to England tomorrow afternoon. Great, just great, If Penny returned to find him gone, then it could well be quite likely that it would be the last he would see of Her.

XXXXXXX

Penny woke early the next Morning in Bernadette's guest room. And almost immediately her conversation with Bernadette the night before ran through her mind. Bernadette was right, when the Army demands someones services it doesn't take no for an answer, also Penny was embarrassed to admit to herself that she should have talked it out with Leonard before storming out like a petulant teenager. At this point Penny came to a decision ' _If the Army wanted her Leonard, then they would just have to take me too, and I am not going to take no for an answer either',_ and Penny rose and hurriedly got washed and dressed.

Leonard meanwhile was more than a little stressed that Morning, he did not know where Penny was, and was rather concerned that she had stayed out all night. If Penny still had not returned by the time he had to leave for the airport, then there was no way that Leonard would be going to England. It was really time he rang all her friends to see if he could locate her, and as he picked up the handset, his relief at hearing the front door open signaling Penny's return, was somewhat tempered by the possibility, that Penny could still be in high dudgeon.

However it was a very contrite Penny who threw herself into his arms begging his forgiveness.

After a heart to heart talk, Leonard firmly agreed with Penny that they must go together, whether the Army liked it or no. the problem was who did he contact?, as there were no contact details contained in the documents the general left them.

However this problem was soon solved by the ringing of the telephone, and Leonard was not too surprised to hear General Rawlinson's voice on the other end of the line.

"Dr Hofstadter? All set for England?, Right, now I want you to visit this guy's widow, the President wants to make damn sure this whole thing is not some elaborate hoax. So see what you can find out".

"Th, The President?", Leonard asked feeling rather overwhelmed.

"Yep, This thing is big, I mean really big and if we can get one over on the Russians and everybody else at being able to project stable wormholes, it will place this country right at the forefront of ", The General excitedly informed him.

Leonard immediately felt uneasy at the General's response, "Uh isn't it important for us to share knowledge sir?, after all we have benefited much from scientists, and others throughout the world for generations, through their dedication?", Leonard told him.

"Well yeah I guess, but we cannot risk this knowledge falling into hostile hands, do you understand me?", the General told him in no uncertain terms.

"OK Sir, I see, there is just one more thing, I would like to take my Wife as my assistant, I'm afraid I really don't want to go without her", Leonard informed the General nervously.

But to Leonard's surprise the General immediately acquiesced, "OK Hofstadter, I'll send a courier to the airport with the necessary things, Air ticket security clearance, that sort of thing, so get yourselves packed and see what you can find out", the General then ended the call.

"Wow!, They must want you real bad, if they so quickly agree to having me as your assistant", Penny noted to Leonard in awe

After that the couple concerned themselves with packing for the trip.

Soon they were on the plane for Heathrow after collecting the necessary documents for Penny.

"Well sweetie, This is so exciting, we are going on a new adventure, together", Penny told Leonard, excitedly.

Leonard smiled, although feeling some concern over the authorities stance on matters. As a Physicist, it was always the core of their learning, on sharing knowledge, and the state's seeming determination to keep such knowledge to themselves made Leonard very uncomfortable indeed , after all how can advancement in learning about our physical universe be made in such circumstances.


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

 **The Investigation continues**

A giggling Leonard locked the hotel room door and together with Penny, who was also suffering a fit of the giggles, began walking down the hall towards the lifts.

The reason for the couples mirth was due to their unsuccessful attempt to recapture their courting days, though the closeness that was shared between them in the failed attempt was priceless.

"I guess it was a lot easier when we were much younger sweetie", Penny told her husband once she had regained her ability to speak without giggling.

"Yeah, I guess, though we still had lots of fun trying", Leonard admitted.

"Absolutely sweetie, absolutely", Penny replied and giving the love of her life a warm hug and a kiss to emphasise her point.

"So then, moving on to serious matters, what's our next move?", Penny asked her husband.

"First, we visit the widow of our John Doe, and see if we can discover if this is an elaborate hoax, or not. Oh, incidentally, our government has yet to inform the Widow that her husbands body was discovered in a Californian wilderness. Seems it's on a need to know basis, and his Widow doesn't need to know according to the General, so keep it under your hat please", Leonard informed Penny.

Just as they exited the lift though, Leonard's cell rang.

"hello?' oh Hi General Rawlinson. Yeah we're just leaving', they've found what?..., I'm not surprised, the voltages may be the same but the frequencies are different...", Penny stood there impatiently, feeling rather puzzled, due to hearing only one side of a telephone conversation.

Leonard continued, "half a mile away?..., Well OK Sir but I'm not sure if Penny will like it at all?",

finally Penny, as soon as Leonard had finished his telephone conversation, rounded on him, her anger already rising at hearing Leonard's doubts.

"And just what will I not like, Leonard?" , Penny demanded, standing stiffly with her hands on her hips and glaring at him dangerously.

Well on that same afternoon our guy went travelling with his dog. A warehouse, according to the local cops here, was ram raided and a load of power tools were snatched", at this point Leonard lowered his voice to a whisper.

"They were discovered in a small ravine half a mile from where the body was discovered., by a guy who tried to sell them in our town which was where the PD, picked him up. So, to cut a long story short.

General Rawlinson wants me to go to the warehouse and see what I can find out there, while you are to wait here for his agent, who will then take you to see our guy's Widow", Leonard nervously explained.

Penny thought for a moment, before informing Leonard that if they are going to go their separate ways in this investigation then the Army had better take cover, "I mean it Leonard I won't stand for it", She declared vehemently.

XXXXXXX

Leonard once again scanned the brief seven seconds of footage from the warehouse security camera.

For those few brief moment he watched as a white tornado like object cut across the screen from left to right illuminated by plasma discharges on its surface.

"I dunno how them blokes did it but they even snatched the bloomin' camera as well, Thieving so and so's can't seem to keep their 'ands off nuffing", the Manager informed Leonard in disgust.

"Yeah and twenty feet of shelving to boot", Leonard noted looking at the message text from General Rawlinson, listing everything that had been 'stolen', Leonard then groaned as he read the General's request for Leonard to go to the Marshes for soil samples, as, ' _Those dozy s.o.b's have managed to lose the first samples that were gathered_.

"I reckon they'll set up a shop somewhere to flog the stuff quick like", the Manager surmised.

' _yeah, perhaps somewhere like Pasadena_ ', Leonard thought.

Once he was back in the car Leonard called General Rawlinson, Informing the General that there was not enough footage of the video to get much information from it at all.

"Rats that's a bummer, just think Hofstadter, if we could only have got some information on this thing then the Army could have transported ammunition, guns and troops anywhere in the world, hell, maybe even tanks, And all without the enemy even noticing a thing", the General informed him disappointedly.

"Yeah I guess, tough break huh", Leonard commiserated, though feeling somewhat relieved,

. ' _We are so not ready for wormhole technology at all. All they seem to think about is gaining military superiority. They're just not interested in accruing knowledge of our universe at all'._ Leonard thought sadly to himself.

XXXXXXX

Penny had just finished drinking her coffee she had decided to get while waiting for the General's Agent, when said Agent appeared.

"Hofstadter?", the Agent inquired of Penny as she examined Penny's picture on her cell.

"Yes, It's Penny Hofstadter, pleased to meet you", Penny cheerfully replied, holding out her hand in a friendly manner.

The Agent a stunningly beautiful Woman in her mid twenties, (that would have immediately welled up in a much younger Penny her acute insecurities. Possibly making her feel like a toothless old crone), looked down at Penny's hand in a disdainful fashion.

"Right, all set", The Agent asked Penny in a businesslike fashion, and ignoring the hand.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?", Penny asked her feeling a little affronted by the Woman's abrupt manner.

"That's because I didn't give it", The agent told her tersely. "Now then, let's proceed shall we?".

The Journey to the unfortunate man's home was carried out in silence, as the Agent busied herself with reading the report on the case, while Penny looked out the window at the pedestrians they passed on that rainy morning and wondered how different life actually might be on this side of the Atlantic, compared to California.

They were surprised to see, as they drew up near the house, an ambulance parked outside, while an ambulanceman was just in the process of shutting the rear doors.

Penny frowned at this unexpected development as an uneasy feeling assaulted her.

Then on approaching the short path to the door, She was startled to see a Police Constable emerging from the house.

The Agent showed him her I.D. And began asking him questions.

"I'm afraid Ma'am, the poor woman killed herself sometime yesterday evening. She was found holding this tightly in her hand", The Constable informed them.

The Agent took a cursory glance at the silver locket, before handing it to Penny. And while the Agent continued her questions, Penny shakily entered the house and as she sat down in the lounge she looked around at the many photographs dotted around the walls of the couple from their wedding photograph onwards. The later ones of the couple, even including the couples dog.

She opened the locket to see the treasured pictures of the man and of his wife lovingly placed inside.

Penny looked once again around the room at the photographs and noticed that in each one except for the wedding photograph, the wife was wearing the locket.

"It's his wedding present to you isn't it", she asked the photograph of the wife in the locket.

"You just couldn't cope with this world without him, could you?", Penny guessed with a startling clarity of insight.

Once again the awful image of Leonard in the I.C.U connected up to tubes and wires assaulted her consciousness.

"I know how you felt, I thought I had lost the love of my life too, once", She told the photograph, in empathy.

At that moment the Agent entered, "OK, I've arranged for an autopsy. My guess is she was silenced to stop us getting near the truth" we should get the results sometime this afternoon, yep I got top priority on this one", The Agent informed Penny proudly.

At this an already emotional Penny rounded on her angrily.

"Are you kidding me?, Look around you, you stupid bitch!, they were devoted to each other, look at this one," Penny demanded as she pointed to one of the photographs of the couple on the pier at Southend, then her anger blazed at the unfeeling attitude of this harpy and gave the Agent a hard slap round her face.

"She's wearing that locket he gave her in every photograph except their wedding one, that's why she was holding it tightly", at this point Penny now overcome by her anger and the bitter memories of that awful day of her anguish over Leonard. Gave way to tears,

"Don't you see?, It was all she had left of him", Penny, in utter disgust, screamed this last at the Agent at the top of her voice, before collapsing on an armchair in her distress and then felt even worse as she looked at the dog's empty basket.

The Agent angrily began calling General Rawlinson in an attempt to have Penny arrested for assault and immediately thrown off the case, and as soon as Penny heard the Agent greeting the General, she snatched the cell from the cold hearted Woman, and shoved her in the face, causing her to land heavily on her posterior. The Agent sat their stunned and suddenly feeling more than a little afraid of Penny's surprising strength despite her age.

The General listened carefully to Penny's impassioned report, "...And please could it be arranged for them to be buried together, preferably in Pasadena. Only I wondered, I just feel that somehow I owe them this?. I guess I just feel a strong connection to his widow.

Also I've still got the locket she was holding, I really think she would like to be buried, with it in it's rightful place, around her neck".

The General, feeling touched by Penny's kindness agreed to all her requests and asked if he could speak to the Agent.

XXXXXXX

The Agent sullenly made her way back to the car after having been torn off a strip by General Rawlinson and was also informed, that because of her apparent urgent need for more training she would be sent on a six month course at a facility in Illinois.

The General had informed the Agent at length of the importance of empathy and the vital need to gain an insight into an individual's life, also stressing the importance of making a thorough investigation before arranging an autopsy and not to make immediate assumptions.

Penny meanwhile, stayed for a last look round at the treasured photographs of a devoted couple, and as she turned to leave she accidentally knocked the dead woman's handbag to the floor spilling some of it's contents. And as she quickly replaced the spilled items, lip balm, keys, a pack of tissues, and some loose change, when she noticed amongst the items, a cheque payable to Mrs Julie Brankle, from the Doohan, Kelly & Nichols life assurance company, for an amount totalling £50,000.

Penny placed the cheque carefully in her purse with the intention of passing it on to Leonard later, in order for Leonard to ensure that the cheque was sent to the Solicitor (Lawyer) of the unfortunate couple.

Then , as a final act, Penny sadly closed the front door of the late couples home.

"'Scuse me love, you haven't seen Rexy 'ave yer?",

Penny turned in surprise and saw the tearful elderly next door neighbour looking at her, clearly hoping for a positive answer.

"Rexy?", A bewildered Penny asked her.

"Sorry, I'm Elsie, their neighbour, Their little dog?, doted on 'im they did, She couldn't 'ave kids herself see, so Rex was a sort of surrogate for them you see". The old lady elucidated.

Penny smiled at this kindly woman. "He's quite safe I assure you", Then, getting an idea, Penny added, "He's coming to live with me and my Husband now", She told her, sure in her heart that neither Leonard nor the General would object.

The old woman was instantly relieved, "Ow, I'm so glad, 'E's such a friendly little chap. In fact I would've 'ad 'im meself see, Julie was such a lovely person, and I would have very much liked to have done something for her as she's helped me a lot over the years. But the old age pension won't stretch to it nohow these days", she told Penny sadly, then brightened visibly, as Penny warmly hugged her and told her not to worry over Rex any more, and if Elsie would like, Penny could send her regular updates and photographs so she could see how Rex was doing.

The old Lady, now with a big beaming smile thanked Penny profusely, then after saying, "Cheerio then duck", Elsie turned, then shuffled back to her house.

When Penny returned to the hotel, she was pleased to discover her Husband already there,

"Hi Darling, I was just looking through the menu as to what we could have for dinner this evening?", Leonard told her, his pleasure at seeing that his Wife had returned, written all over his face.

Penny though needed something more important than dinner right now and she hurled herself into Leonard's arms, and at her request. Leonard held her tightly in his arms for quite some time, before Penny could gain some respite from the emotional upset she had suffered earlier that Day. That evening, after dinner, the couple decided to stay in their hotel room, as both Leonard, worrying over the intentions of the military, and Penny still feeling somewhat unsettled after her day, sought some more comfort from each other.

It was while they were watching an English comedy on the T.V. When the principal character entered a Bank. That Penny remembered the cheque. She rose and retrieved it and handed it to Leonard and asked him if he could make sure it was sent to the couples Solicitor so it could be distributed to any surviving relatives.

Leonard took a cursory glance at the cheque before putting it down, then suddenly picking it up again for another look.

"Penny, have you noticed the name of this company?", Leonard asked her as he booted up his tablet.

"Yes, Dooley, someone and somebody I think. Why do you ask?", Penny puzzled at Leonard's sudden feverish activity with his tablet.

Leonard did not reply for a moment or two, then finally turning to Penny he told her.

"I thought so, there is no such company listed under those names", Leonard informed her triumphantly.

"Do you mean to tell me that that cheque is fake?",, Penny ejaculated, already feeling her anger rise over a seemingly despicable trick played on a kind woman and devoted Wife that Julie was.

"No I think the cheque is genuine but the insurance company is not. Look at these surnames. James Doohan, Deforest Kelly and Nichelle Nichols were actors who played the parts of Chief Engineer Scott, Dr McCoy, and Lieutenant Uhura. So this cheque came from someo..., Oh my God, Sheldon!", Leonard declared incredulously.

Penny too had put her hands to her face as she too realised that surely this could not be from anyone else, but Dr Sheldon Cooper.

"Leonard, we have got to go back and see him. And find out for sure. See if you can book a flight back to LAX for tomorrow?", Penny requested of Leonard, as now she was worrying over the well being of Amy and Sheldon.

"Sorry Honey no can do, the General wants us to go to the marshes and take some more samples", Leonard informed her apologetically.

Penny began to fret even more at Leonard's news. It was vital they returned to Pasadena very soon and see if they can help Amy and Sheldon.

XXXXXXX

The visit to Hackney Marshes was carried out without incident, though Penny found, as she absently in deep thought, wandered along the bank of the river Lea, when she suddenly spotted a large sprig of a familiar looking plant, Artemesia Californica, or to give it it's local name in the U.S. Californian Sage.

"Leonard!, I take it this doesn't grow in the U.K. Does it?", she announced holding out the plant to Leonard.

"Nope, it sure doesn't, this area around here sure doesn't look like semi desert to me", Leonard confirmed indicating with a wave of his arm the large flat grassy field, recently marked out for football pitches (Soccer).

"I'll put it with the General's samples", He told her, then disclosed worriedly, "Really as it's eight and a half miles from here to the warehouse. But only half a mile from where the body was discovered to the ravine where the tools were found, then it's very likely that the wormhole was generated on the U.S side of the Atlantic. Which is also provides us another strong link to Sheldon".

XXXXXXX

Leonard tossed and turned that night. It was quite clear, 1)Mankind was really not ready for a wormhole generator. And 2) Leonard was positive that Sheldon was involved somewhere.

So what possibly could Leonard come up with that could convince the General that it was a result of natural phenomena. After wrestling with the problem for an hour or so he suddenly sat bolt upright remembering something Rajesh had told him a couple of weeks or so ago.

Leonard quickly scrambled to pick up his phone.

"Hello?, could I speak to Rajesh Koothrapalli please?", Leonard asked, hoping Rajesh was available.

Soon the familiar voice of Raj sounded in his ear.

"Leonard!, Nice to hear from you Dude, though it's a bit early to drag me out of bed, it's only 07:15. I'm an old man now, I need my beauty sleep. It's OK I'm only Joking. So, What's up?", Rajesh asked.

"Do you remember when we talked last?, I seem to remember you telling me about some huge sunspot activity, and I was wondering when was that?", Leonard asked him hoping that the date would coincide with the wormhole transportation.

Rajesh thought for a moment, "That would be March the 12th, Man I'm not kidding, this thing was off the scale, We've never seen it so strong. Truly I swear, you could have seen the Northern Lights from Sri Lanka...".

Leonard joyfully interrupted, "Raj you are a lifesaver, Honestly I could kiss you".

"Little loud Dude, I have this on Speaker phone", Raj told him, his embarrassment quite evident in his voice.

Leonard apologised then ended the call, after promising Raj he would ring him soon.

Yes it was an impossible long shot that General Rawlinson would swallow Leonard's explanation, but the cosmic rays were so powerful that day that, according to Rajesh, they fried quite a number of the older satellites,. And also, it was the only natural phenomena that Leonard could use.

Then smiling to himself Leonard returned to his bed and cuddling his Penny, He soon fell fast asleep.

Fortunately for Leonard, though General Rawlinson did not swallow the powerful sunspot activity as explanation for the wormhole incidents. He wrongly concluded that Leonard gave him that bullcrap to hide the fact that Leonard did not quite have the necessary knowledge of the subject and ordered them, to their great joy, to return to the U.S.A..

XXXXXXX

Four Days after their return home, (In order to ensure they were not under surveillance, in case General Rawlinson suspected anything). They made their way to the abode of Dr and Dr Cooper.

Leonard and Penny's suspicions of Sheldon's involvement were confirmed when the front door was opened a crack with the security chain engaged, before the Wary face of Amy checked just who it was that was calling.

Amy's face softened with relief when she saw that it was only her own dear friends and ushered them inside.

They were immediately struck by the thin, nervous man that was their old friend Dr Sheldon Cooper, who was seated by the window on look out.

Leonard came straight to the point, "That was you, wasn't it?. With the wormhole generator I mean?".

Sheldon looked aghast at him then slumped in defeat.

"I always knew that somehow it would be you who would find out my secret. I suppose it's you're clear duty now to hand me over to the authorities?", Sheldon said quietly.

"No, No Sheldon I'm not. Do you know who it was that wanted my services so badly to find out just who was doing this?", Leonard continued, without waiting for Sheldon to answer, "The Army told me they needed me. Not for the purposes of gaining the knowledge to benefit Mankind, No. But so they can put an army anywhere in the World. The World is just not ready for your invention Sheldon", Leonard explained.

"You're right, It's already taken one man's life", Sheldon admitted sadly.

"Sheldon, Sweetie, it wasn't your invention that killed him, he suffered a heart attack", Penny reassured Sheldon.

"It was terrible, I was so elated that the generator worked, that I was already making my speech of thanks to the Nobel committee, when he just appeared out of nowhere with his dog on a lead. He just looked at me , clutched his chest and died, I quickly switched the machine off and rushed to help him but in so doing I stumbled against my machine and it started again", Sheldon began to sob, then continued tearfully, I quickly switched it off again. God only knows how many people I killed this time", Sheldon wondered in anguish, as a stricken Amy rubbed his back in comfort.

"It's OK Buddy, You didn't. You just transported a bunch of 110v construction tools from England to here. Some guy was trying to sell them until the Pasadena P.D. Picked him up". Leonard explained.

"But that's ridiculous, the voltage is the same but the frequencies are different, they would just run too fast here?", Sheldon noted, brightening a little at the stupidity of anyone who was oblivious to the difference.

There was silence for a while, then Sheldon spoke.

"It was a marsh Leonard. Who on Earth walks on a marsh?. That's why I chose that location", Sheldon suddenly explained, "I thought it would be safe?", He added.

"I'm afraid that place ceased to be a marsh a long time ago Buddy, why didn't you check it out on satellite?," Leonard asked him.

"I can only conclude that I was to obsessed with the Nobel prize, I just took the name for granted, Sheldon confessed.

"I sent his widow a cheque, I hoped it might make things a little bit easier for her", Sheldon informed them earnestly.

"It did, Sheldon, It really did", Penny told him as she gave Leonard a warning look so he would not tell Sheldon of the man's Widow's death. After all there was no point in Sheldon knowing now, it would just make things worse, also it wouldn't change anything either.

XXXXXXX

Sheldon dismantled his wormhole generator and stowed it away in his lock' n' store.

He Sheldon Cooper had made an error that cost an innocent man his life. Leonard and Penny seemed very happy together in their retirement. So Sheldon decided that it was time to leave it to the next generation to make scientific discoveries, and he would enjoy his own retirement with his Wife and absolute rock, Amy.

XXXXXXX

Penny rose from the graveside and brushed a few stalks from the flowers off of her skirt.

She stood and read the inscription again.

 **Here Lies**

 **Stephen and Julie Brankle**

 **A truly devoted couple**

 **I know they will rise on the last day**

Leonard glanced at the time, "OK Honey, don't forget, Rex is still waiting in the car for his walk", He reminded her.

Penny turned and taking hold of Leonard's arm she smiled at him, "OK my Darling, lead on".

Then they made their way towards the car where an excited Rex eagerly greeted their return.


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41

 **I** _ **Want To Go Home**_

Three years later.

Penny rolled to a halt behind Kay's car on the drive of Howard and Bernadette's house.

She waited for a few moments in order to calm herself after her disagreement earlier with Leonard, she paused for a few minutes and tried to regain her composure ready for 'girls' night (sort of, as all were now nearing 70, they still liked to call it that) .

But after some minutes had passed without result, she sighed in frustration and wrenching open her door with more vigor than was necessary, she noisily slammed the door shut and began walking towards Bernadette's front door.

Before she reached it though it was suddenly opened by Bernadette herself, who was wondering what caused the noise outside.

"Penny?, was that you?", Bernadette began, then noticing the disturbed look on Penny's face, added,

"You're looking a little wild around the eyes, everything OK?", she inquired.

Penny entered the house, and just tersely said, "Leonard". Then once she had entered the lounge and greeted Kay, she then began to explain.

"Well, you see I thought I would be clever and just move this rock in the garden last week, which resulted in my receiving a hernia, and now the medicos want me to go in to be operated on next week.

But I told them I couldn't because, due to my age, and other ongoing conditions, they intended to keep me in for a whole couple of weeks and I had told Leonard I could not stay away that long. Then he starts panicking, and overthinking things, as he always does and insists I must go in and have the operation. He just won't listen to my reasoning at all", Penny told them, still looking distinctly unsettled.

"I don't understand?, Kay said, looking bewildered, "What's wrong with a couple of weeks in bed and being waited on hand and foot?", Kay asked Penny, as Bernadette nodded her head in agreement.

"Leonard's asthma is really bad at the moment and I could never forgive myself if Leonard had an attack and I was not there to help him", Penny explained as her eyes began to fill with tears, at the thought.

"Wow! Penny sweetie and you think Leonard overthinks things?, didn't you realize that Leonard would feel the same about you?, truly if they feel the need to operate that quickly then there is an obvious risk that you could suffer a strangulated hernia, and that could be serious.", Bernadette reasoned, then added, "what about Wyatt, or April having Leonard to stay with them?".

"Wyatt is currently filming somewhere in Europe, while April is busy running the Physics department at Cal-Tech. Honey Marie is in Switzerland and Angela is working on a project for the Government, God only knows where?. So you see, I really can't go and leave Leonard on his own right now", Penny explained, then added "I didn't really want to come tonight but he insisted he'd be OK for a couple of hours and that I should go and enjoy myself tonight, but I just can't stop worrying about Leonard though".

Bernadette looked thoughtful for a brief moment before suddenly springing into action, "OK Penny, mount up and we'll all go and fetch Leonard who will be an honorary girl for tonight. When we get there, you pack some things for him to stay here for a couple of weeks or so, I know Howard will be thrilled to have his best friend to stay for a while", then she smiled at the sight of the relief on Penny's face.

"Oh Bernie you're an absolute genius, thank you", Penny told her as she got up to leave.

Once they had all returned with Leonard, The girls returned to their seats in Bernadette's lounge, (as well as the Chardonnay, which was still chilled despite their unplanned excursion.)

While Leonard decided to leave the 'girls' to their girls night, and went to find Howard who was pottering about in the garage.

"You wouldn't believe now, how much our Penny here fretted over her relationship with Leonard after they got back together", Bernadette revealed to Kay.

"Hey!, I had had a bad experience with Kurt, if you remember our conversation all those years ago. And all the other guys apart from Leonard that I did date, were not much better, so it was no surprise that I was so full of insecurities back then", Penny declared in her defense.

Kay nodded in agreement, then added, "Been there".

"So, I guess, finally, at last you've stopped dreading a messy break-up now?", Bernadette teasingly asked Penny.

Penny's only reply to this was to poke out her tongue at Bernadette.

Then Bernadette spoke again, "You know it was not until Penny had been married to Leonard for five years that Sheldon finally realized that our Leonard and Penny were together for life", Bernadette revealed.

"Yes and He wasn't the only one. Why even your Howard still doubted that Leonard and I would go the distance?, Why couldn't they see our love was so strong for each other?", Penny asked in some dismay.

"Well, I guess one reason is that my Howard is only a man, so that explains a lot, And Sheldon, could never understand relationships period, Well, till he married Amy.

Though I could understand it though Penny. It's like sometimes you observe a couple and wonder what he sees in her?, or what does she see in him?. But that's what love does. You saw something more in Leonard than the nerd everyone else sees, and Leonard could see more to you than just a hot chick that most guys only see", She explained.

"I agree, I guess we're the whole world to each other ". Penny passionately revealed, then added, "and nearly forty years of marriage later. We love each other even more now than we did back then. I guess it's no wonder I worry about him so", Penny confessed

They sat in silence for a few minutes and sipped at their Chardonnay.

Bernadette, after hearing Penny's description of her love for Leonard, thought of how much her Howard had changed, going from a shy young man living with his Mother, and using sexist and creepy chat up lines he'd seen the 'cool' guys use to great success, thinking that they would work for him too, also he thought it was a great way to hide his shyness.

Only to later become the loving Husband, Father and Grandfather he is today.

Kay too meditated on how happy her life had been since marrying J.G, and How She had her life enriched by the addition of their Daughter Chloe, (To Kay and J.G.'s Joy, who had married Penny's son Wyatt, which happy Union had brought forth little Penny, Kay and Penny's Granddaughter).

While Penny's thoughts had returned reluctantly to her earlier disagreement with The love of her life.

It was quite rare these days that they did have a falling out. Though one look at the fear on Leonard's face at the thought of the huge risk of Penny suffering a serious complication from the Hernia, filled her with absolute love towards him, that he still cared so much for her, in spite of the fact that her youthful face and figure had long since been adversely altered by age.

And if Penny had not recently been in the middle of an argument with her husband, she would have thrown her arms around him and hugged him.

The silence was then suddenly broken by Bernadette, who announced that she had recently received a letter from Amy. (Sheldon and Amy had moved to his mothers old house in Texas, hoping perhaps that the familiar surroundings would help relax him since he decided to retire).

"What did she say?, Has Sheldon managed to settle and enjoy his retirement yet?", Penny excitedly interrupted before Bernadette could say more.

"Well she did say it was quite stressful trying to keep him from returning to Cal-tech, as he was so restless. So in the end, she bit the bullet and had a model railway built for him in an outbuilding at the back of the house, and now Sheldon spends a lot of his time making webcasts about his layout and trains in general. And it seems he has an even bigger following than he did with the fun with flags, would you believe?". Bernadette revealed.

"Well I'm so pleased for them. Though not enough to watch the webcasts", Penny added quickly, thinking back to his fun with flags series.

They lapsed back into silence again, and Bernie looked sadly round the room at how few they had become now.

Elizabeth and Peregrine, now that Peregrine had retired, had moved to a cottage near Lyme Regis in Dorset, England.

Chloe too, was somewhere in Europe with Wyatt, and had taken little Penny with her.

( As Chloe had recently began reading some of Wyatt's fan mail and had been horrified to read some of the explicit details a few of Wyatt's female fans were relating in their missives, that they would very much like to do to him, which then rapidly increased Chloe's feelings of insecurity hence Chloe's rapid departure for Europe).

"You know this growing old, just sucks big time", Kay admitted. Then continued. "I was in a store the other Day,with J.G. looking at some new sofa's for our den, when this old woman asked me for my autograph. Just as I was feeling pleased with myself that She had remembered me from one of my movies, when she went on and related to me how much she loved my portrayal of The Walton's Grandma, then she revealed that she had purchased the whole box set of them, expecting to see my excitement and gratitude at that revelation. Wow!, talk about feeling deflated, ", Kay scowled to emphasize her disgust, then added, seems the woman couldn't work out that the actress would have been about 150 years old by now. I mean for crying out loud, Do I look 150 years old, do I?", Kay asked.

"Well, I would have said 145", Penny teased, then she laughed as Kay flipped her off.

"I hate it too, My two best assets have gone so far south, it's quite a struggle putting on a bra now", Bernadette revealed regretfully, and I am so sick of having to wear these hearing aids too"

"Same here. Do you remember back in the days when we would all hit a club and not get back home until the small hours.

But now I would be looking to make for home and head for my bed about 9 PM.

And I've even given up putting make-up on, as it does not seem to make the slightest bit of difference. Still at least the guys have stopped hitting on me now. I so used to hate it when they did it in front of Leonard like that. He never said much but I could see by his face how upset he would get", Penny agreed.

"Yeah, I know", Bernadette agreed, we used to get loads of free drinks from the guys thanks to Penny here, but all too soon they stopped when she got back with lover boy Leonard", she explained to Kay

"The trouble with the free drinks was that the guys wanted something in return" Penny reminded Bernadette sternly.

"Hey, they never got anything when we did get the free drinks, did they?", Bernadette reminded Penny in turn.

"I guess I just couldn't do that to Leonard, accept free drinks from guys, I mean

Just then Howard and Leonard entered the lounge, to the apparent dismay from Bernadette.

"Howard!, you had your hip done two months ago, you do not need that stick now", Bernadette scolded.

"I'll have you know, Leonard found it in the garage and I brought it out to throw it in the trash", Howard lied.

Bernadette glared at him not believing his explanation for a second.

Penny too was regarding Leonard, though with some concern, as his breathless wheezing, after his short walk from the garage, alarmed her.

"What have you guys been up to?", Bernadette asked Howard.

"Oh, just moving some stuff around, tidying things a little", Howard replied.

"Howard, You knew Samuel was coming this weekend to go through the junk in our garage?, you know Leonard hasn't been well!, and now you've got him wheezing like a broken squeeze box", Bernadette berated Howard in exasperation, and with some concern as Penny insisted that Leonard immediately sit down next to her to recover, as she handed him his inhaler.

Bernadette, suddenly remembering something, rose, and saying to Penny, "I've found something to cheer you both up. I saw it in a bookshop the other day".

She returned with a book under her arm and presented it to Penny.

"Rearing a Child, The Best Way **by Dr Beverley Jones.",** Penny read aloud,

"Are you serious Bernie, her books were just awful?", Penny questioned.

But this book is a new one and I think Leonard and yourself will be quite pleased when you read the dedication page", Bernadette clarified.

So opening the book Penny began to read.

 _ **As many Parents may know. I have written many books on child rearing under the name Hofstadter, and for these I wholeheartedly apologize and humbly request that you throw them all away, or safely burn them.**_

 _ **This book however does not come from my many studies on the subject, nor does it come from my earlier flawed ideas. No they are simply my observations on the parenting skills carried out by my wonderful Son Leonard and his adorable Wife Penny.**_

 _ **By their continuous Love and firmness when needed , they have successfully raised and guided 4 children, 3 to PhD's and at the top of their field, One of them being the proud recipient of the Nobel prize for Physics. And yet another, a leading Actor and Oscar winner in the movies.**_

 _ **But much much more importantly, 4 of the most well balanced, down to earth and warm individuals I have ever had the pleasure to meet.**_

 _ **Therefore I dedicate this book to Leonard and Penny.**_

 _ **I thought I knew everything, but thanks to you two, I have learned so, so much more.**_

 _ **With grateful thanks**_

 _ **Beverley Jones.**_

Leonard rose and quickly left the room, while Penny, sensing his fragile emotional condition at that moment, followed closely behind him.

After a little while Leonard regained his composure, and turning to Penny, "Did She tell you She wrote another book?", Leonard asked, wiping the last of his tears.

"No Honey, She never said a word?. I guess this is her way of finally apologizing to you, for all the anguish she caused you?.", Penny replied.

"She even left the 'Dr' off at the end of her dedication comment?. She was always so proud of her degree before", Leonard revealed.

"I think that's because she finally realized that in the end, that what was more important, was being a fine caring individual, which seem to have replaced all her old theories of what really makes a person great", Penny observed

They quickly returned, and on accessing the net, discovered that it had only been published two months ago.

"She must have arranged with the publishers to only publish her book, sometime after her death", Leonard correctly guessed.

"Well Sweety, She certainly gave us a wonderful surprise, and I guess she didn't want us to make a big deal of it?", Penny noted.

They then gratefully thanked Bernadette for her very kind gift.

"I just thought it was so amazing of her, In the end she as good as admitted she was wrong, didn't she?", Bernadette commented.

"Yes She did didn't she. And she called me wonderful too", Leonard noted hoarsely. Which required another comforting hug from Penny.

XXX

Four days later the Hofstadter's dropped off Leonard's case at House Wolowitz, and then the pair made their way to the hospital.

As the couple had grown even more closer since Leonard's retirement. Their parting was quite hard to cope with for the two of them, even though Leonard would soon see her the next morning before Penny had her operation which was scheduled about midday.

And it was, to Bernadette's notice, that it was a much more subdued Leonard that returned later.

The two Weeks passed by with agonizing slowness. Until finally a much happier Leonard left to collect his wife and take her home.

Wyatt, Leonard's Son, during a telephone conversation with his father two days later offered them the use of his large beach house in Malibu for a couple of weeks so that his Mother could convalesce. And Leonard happily took him up on his kind offer, then asked if they could invite Uncle Howard and Auntie Bernadette to go with them, which Wyatt quickly agreed to.

"How is he?, why didn't you call me?, I would have loved to have talked to my Son too." Penny remonstrated.

"Sorry, Honey, he was between takes so it was only a short call. He hopes to finish filming the location scenes next week, apparently he was calling from Örnsköldsvik in Sweden?", Leonard Informed her.

"Wow they film these James Bond movies everywhere don't they?", Penny noted. Then added, "I do hope we get to see him soon, I miss him, Chloe and little Penny", She lamented.

"He said they should be finishing some time next week. So you may get your wish soon", Leonard told her.

XXX

Howard and Bernadette were delighted to be invited and happily accepted the offer to stay in Wyatt's beach house for two weeks.

"And as it's slightly out of season now perhaps it will be a little quieter", Bernadette said hopefully.

"More like you're hoping to go skinny dipping?", Penny teased. Then laughed as Bernie, indicating her aged physique, and with disbelief at Penny's comment.

Then replied, "Well I reckon the advantage of that is, that it would soon clear the beach if I did", She said ruefully.

It was quite a relaxing time for both couples even though Leonard and Bernadette shared the cooking, and Howard's task was loading the dishwasher, and doing the laundry. (after a certain amount of "encouragement", from his Wife, in order that Penny could regain her strength.

But three days later Bernadette felt anything but relaxed.

She had answered a knock at the door, and Finding Kay and J.G. standing there on the threshold,

Bernadette excitedly cried out Kay's name in her joy to see her friend. Whereupon she was immediately shushed by Kay who then beckoned that Bernadette step outside lest Penny overheard.

"Look I haven't got time to explain fully, but I have had an extremely tearful phone call from Astrid. Apparently, as far as I was able to understand her. Chloe found a naked woman in their Hotel room and then had a fight with Wyatt, before leaving and She took little Penny and Astrid with her and flew to New York, Which was where Astrid was calling me from in much distress. I've got a very good idea that Chloe is staying in Deanna's Condo near Central Park. So J.G. And I, am flying up there to find out what's going on, And I will let Penny know when I get the full details, OK?", Kay revealed breathlessly, then added, "I don't want to worry her now until I get all the details you see. Right we must be off now to catch our flight". Then Kay and J.G. rushed off for LAX.

Bernadette closed the door feeling very bewildered at the news. Wyatt dearly loved Chloe, surely he wouldn't be cheating on her like that. And who on earth was Astrid?. Bernadette decided to ask if perhaps Leonard knew who this Astrid is.

However to her frustration it was quite a while before she could talk to Leonard on his own, as he always had to be near his wife. But Bernadette seized the opportunity as Leonard went for a bathroom break and immediately accosted him as he emerged from the bathroom.

"Leonard, tell me, Who's Astrid", Bernadette asked him suddenly.

"Well, She's a young Albanian girl, though apparently her father was German. It's a tragic story really. Her Mother died when she was young and Astrid was raised by her Grandmother until her Grandmother died when Astrid was just 13 years old, a year ago, she tried to make for Germany to find her Father with the little money that she had left, but she got on the wrong bus and somehow ended up in Krakow, where They were filming a scene in a movie, in which Wyatt was the lead Actor.

When the director, upon noticing her sad wretched state, decided to use her in a small crowd scene. But three hours after filming finished, Chloe spied the girl, from the window of the hotel, still outside in the freezing cold . And you know Chloe, she promptly goes down to the square and ushers the girl inside , then after feeding her, she got her a room in the hotel. And later, after hearing about Astrid's predicament through an interpreter, she decided there and then to see if it was at all possible that perhaps she and Wyatt could adopt the girl". Leonard revealed.

"Oh, That's Awful, I didn't know that Chloe was adopting a child though", Bernadette exclaimed, then added "Did She ever find her Father?".

"Well firstly, adopting Astrid was going to be a long drawn out legal process, involving two countries. And Chloe didn't want to say anything in case she was unsuccessful. And as to your other question I'm afraid Chloe, after doing some digging, discovered that Her Father had drank himself to death when Astrid would have been about the age of 10 I think", Leonard told her sadly, Then added, "Why all this sudden interest in Astrid?. And how did you find out about Astrid In the first place?.", Leonard asked Her.

Then at the guilty look on Bernadette's face, Leonard demanded to know what was going on. Then after Bernadette explained about Astrid's phone call to Kay, He told her that Penny really should be informed, as it would do no good at all to hide it from her.

XXXXXXX

However despite his intentions to inform Penny, Leonard held off, hoping that Kay would ring soon. Penny hated cheaters, having been cheated on enough in the past (I.E. Kurt), and her anger and outrage just might descend on the bearer of the bad news as well.

But as a day or so passed without any call from Kay, Leonard bit the bullet and told Penny abut Wyatt, the hotel room and a naked Girl.

Though Penny's outcry of, "Wyatt did what!" filled the whole house, Her anger was not visited on Leonard too, to Leonard's great relief.

Then an hour later the call came, not from Kay but from Chloe herself.

"Chloe!, how are you?, I'm so sorry. Don't worry Wyatt is going to get a very stiff talking to indeed from me", Penny began.

"It's OK Ma, He didn't, in fact He didn't even know she was in our room. Wyatt wouldn't do that to me, I know him.

Yes OK I admit it, I checked. Because the film crew had filled the hotel to capacity, they had to take on temporary staff to cope with the influx, This crazy woman got herself a job as a maid just to get close to Wyatt. And it was more what she said to me when I turfed her out of our room,

she said, ' _G_ _ **et used to it Honey, there is a lot more women than just me who wants, a piece of Wyatt you know**_ _'._

And after She left, I realized in that moment that I had had enough of this kind of life.

I'm so tired of traveling and living in hotel rooms, We have a lovely home yet we are hardly ever in it.

I want a family life for little Penny and to show Astrid what having a close family is all about.

I tried explaining this to Wyatt, but he kept on telling me that this is his career. So I told him to choose, Me or his career?, then I left with little Penny and Astrid. I'm sorry, I should have called you but I just really needed to talk to someone and Deanna is my dearest friend", Chloe explained.

Penny sighed with relief, but She was still determined to talk to Wyatt. Though albeit with much less anger and more reasoning now.

For the next two days Penny thought hard on how she could convince Wyatt to listen to Chloe and become a proper family.

And by the time Wyatt reached the beach house the next day, Penny was ready.

Penny along with Leonard and Wyatt,got themselves comfortable on the veranda overlooking the beach, While Bernadette and Howard went shopping to give the family a little privacy.

Then Penny began, "Right before I reveal where Chloe is, I want you to listen to me carefully.

When I moved here from Nebraska, my dreams were what you have now, a rich and famous actor, winning awards. But my dreams never came to be. And do you know what, I'm glad they never did.

Looking back on my life now I am firmly convinced that I could never have been as happy as I am now.

I met a most wonderful man and married him. (At this,Leonard smiled at his wife and place his hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze

I had four lovely children and found a satisfying career as an interior designer and T.V. Presenter.

And Wyatt, the best thing about my career was that I could go home each evening to my family.

I could read my kids a story before tucking them in, kissing them goodnight, then I could enjoy the rest of my evening with your Dad , which to me was the best thing in the world.

And that is what Chloe desires, Wyatt don't throw your marriage away, I know you, you will regret it for the rest of your life" Penny earnestly told Wyatt.

Wyatt Looked down at the floor for a few moments then looking up at his Mother he spoke.

"After Chloe left and I had calmed down. Those few days without her and my girls, I felt the loneliest man in the world. I guess I needed that to make me realize what was most important in my life.

I've told my Agent no more movies for me, and he has got me a part on a new comedy series which is filmed entirely in L.A. I don't know how it will be received by the networks?, but somehow I just don't care about that anymore.

I guess it's time for me to go home to my Wife and daughters", Wyatt admitted, then added, "I hope they do let us adopt Astrid, You'd like her, she has such a sweet nature, despite the loss of her parents".

"OK Wyatt. Now tell Chloe what you've told me", Penny said, as she handed her Son the slip of paper with the number that Chloe could be reached on.

XXXXXXX

two weeks later Penny, Kay and the Wolowitz's were invited to stay for a long weekend at Chloe's house in Tarzana. (with seven bedrooms it easily accommodated them all ). Penny was delighted too, to finally meet Astrid, receiving a big hug from her with a "Pleased to meet you grandmother", from Astrid.

( At which point Penny teared up a little as Her Son and Daughter in law, still had not received the necessary permission from the authorities, agreeing to the adoption. In fact it had taken some considerable effort from Chloe, before She could convince the Albanian authorities to let Astrid stay with the Hofstadter's, in the first place.)

Then Penny felt better as She spent an enjoyable time sitting with Leonard and laughing at the antics of the two young girls as they played together in the pool.

XXXXXX

Though the Comedy series was canceled after the first series, Wyatt was accepted to play the part of a Lawyer in a T.V. drama set in L.A. instead, which later proved very popular with T.V. Viewers all around the world.

But the best thing was, was that now they were settled as a family, To everyone's great joy, (Especially Chloe's), they finally got the permission to adopt Astrid.

And everyone could see Astrid's eyes shining with happiness as she looked around at her new family.


	42. Chapter 42, Losing

Chapter 42

Losing

12 years later

Dr Angela Hofstadter gloomily stared out at the rain running down the windows of the Starbucks branch near her Parents home in Pasadena.

The blustery weather outside reminded her of her holiday in England when she was a child. And a smile briefly lit up her face at this happy reminder, before being replaced by a scowl as her memory then switched to more recent events.

Due to the increasing hostility displayed towards the U.S. by two unfriendly Nations. As well as the increasing need for Uncle Sam to reduce the national debt. It was decided by the Commander of the research facility, The familiar figure, ( to Angela's parents that is), of a certain General Rawlinson to concentrate their attentions on the stealth missile program, currently headed by Dr Karl Van Der Kokk, who was as creepy in his manner as he was in his looks.

And Angela had no doubt whatsoever that Karl had been very busy ' _assisting_ ' the General with his task of deciding which cuts to make.

Of course the main 'cut' being the warp drive research, that was until a few days ago headed by Angela.

(in truth the reason for giving General Rawlinson a desk to command was that it was considered by the powers that be that as General Rawlinson was only five or so years from retirement, they had decided to give him command of the facility as. 1) The research staff were quite capable of carrying out their work without the need for direction and therefore required very little meddling from the General. And 2) It would give the new commander in General Rawlinson's previous assignment more time to get familiar with his new command).

Angela's face darkened in anger, as she thought of her teams eight years of hard work and sacrifice that had now been thrown on to the scrapheap.

She hoped her dear Colleague, Dr Jane Caswell PhD, would hopefully soon find a position somewhere else as Jane too, as soon as she heard the outcome of the meeting, had quit, not only in support of Angela, but also loathe to return to the position of Dr Van Der Kokk's dogsbody. (For Jane, had formerly been employed as assistant to Dr Van Der Kokk, until to her utmost relief, she was 'rescued' By Angela.

As Dr Van Der Kokk possessed the view that everyone else was only employed to be a servant to him for his convenience, hence he viewed Jane in a similar fashion. I.E As nothing more than a glorified gopher.

Therefore Jane's transfer to the warp drive project did not go down well with Van Der Kokk, and when Angela was awarded her Nobel prize, Van Der Kokk's anger was then transformed into outright hostility towards Angela.

The meeting had begun cordially enough with Angela handing to the general her comprehensive document, ( a document that Angela had spent many hours on together with Jane), which outlined all the reasons vital for the continuation of the project.

Then she passionately pointed out to the General the fact that millions of dollars already spent on the last eight years of the project would be wasted. Clearly making the need for the warp drive project to continue. She sat back satisfied that she had submitted a convincing presentation, certain in her own mind that General Rawlinson would be sure to agree with her views.

But to her utter surprise, Angela gaped in disbelief as the General, without ceremony, promptly threw her precious document straight into the waste paper basket.

"Sorry Ma'am, But I have my orders", the General declared blindly, "And these cuts have got to be made".

Things then took a downward turn as Angela it seemed, had inherited her Mother Penny's explosive temper.

And as she deemed this rejection as a personal affront to herself and her team. She immediately let loose her rage upon the General.

With the result that the meeting quickly descended into outright chaos, resulting inevitably in Angela's resignation.

And for her final act she vigorously swept the general's desk clean depositing everything onto the floor before storming out. Only then to find herself suddenly escorted by 2 burly M.P.'s, and without even saying goodbye to her team, let alone collect all her things together, she was quickly led to a waiting utilty vehicle and unceremoniously dumped by the side of the deserted desert road,

Angela stood there stunned at the sudden change in fortune and wondering what on earth to do as her cell was still in her office at the facility, In fact Angela doubted that she would ever see it again security being so tight, but it left her with no possibilty of getting transport back to Pasadena, as living at the research facility she had not even had her own place she could go to.

With no other alternative she began walking alongside the road, thinking to herself that at least the government had spared her the trouble of having to haul her luggage behind her.

After three quarters of an hour she heard a vehicle approach from behind her, but on looking back she saw the same utility vehicle pull up alongside, and was dismayed to see Jane alight from the vehicle with a mocking, "Hey lady, here's some company for you", an M.P. Told her, then with a squeal of tyres it turned back to the facility.

Fortunately for the two women, two hours later they were picked up by a kindly rancher in his beat up old pick-up and he dropped them off in the nearest town.

 _(Now, back in Starbucks)_

" _I would have thought that my winning the Nobel prize would have at least counted for something?_ ", Angela thought bitterly, as she picked up her cappuccino, only to discover that it was now stone cold, then she realised after glancing at the clock that she had in fact had been sat there for over two hours now in bitter contemplation.

And as the rain seemed to be coming down even harder, she went to to the payphone and dialled the familiar number.

"Hi Dad..., Could you pick me up please?...".

XXXXXXX

While Angela's cappuccino was still just an hour old, her twin sister April was equally staring out at the rain running down the windscreen of her car and feeling just as miserable over having been betrayed.

Her husband Bob and herself had been saving hard for some time to be able to take a much needed romantic break together in Hawaii and when Professor Jorgensen had taken her to task for her delay in submitting her report of the progress of the undergraduates in her department.

(April had in fact had suffered a migraine which had principally been the cause of her delay and unfortunately for April, Professor Jorgensen prided himself on his efficiency and as he was so well known for being efficient, then the whole university will also be recognized for it's efficiency, and anyone who does not keep up to his standard will suffer his wrath).

And so April, feeling disgruntled as she was, decided to cheer herself up by checking how much they had saved and how soon they could book their holiday in Hawaii.

" _The sooner the better. Then the quicker I can get away from Professor Iceberg for a while. I guess the Iceberg's head is just too big for him to ever get a migraine?_ ", April thought as she accessed the joint, online account.

Then she froze as the total amount saved in the account was shown to be just $17.53.

At once in a panic she called her husband.

"Honey, we've been robbed" she quickly told him in agitation.

Then it all came out as Bob admitted he had spent it all on acting lessons for himself.

April knew that Bob was tired of working at the university restaurant, she knew too that as a classically trained Chef he had longed to gain a measure of fame in his field, and it was only due to a series of mishaps, Mismanagement or sheer bad luck etc.

Few of which could be attributed to Bob.

With the result that all these mishaps only served to severely affect his confidence as a Chef, which was how he came to be working in the University canteen.

April knew too, how Bob envied the prestige and income that her brother Wyatt had achieved in his acting profession.

But she was totally unaware, that Bob would be so desperate to escape his personal prison, that he would even clutch at straws in such a way as to think that he could be as successful an actor as Wyatt was.

" _Please Honey, listen to me! I've joined an amateur dramatic society and the Director has filmed all our auditions and he is going to send me mine once he has checked them over._

 _Honey, I swear, as soon as you see it, you will see for yourself that I am just as good as Wyatt, and I can earn thousands of dollars too! And then we will go anywhere you want Honey please?_ ", Bob had earnestly told her.

April's only reply was to tearfully end the call.

And so April sat there watching the rain while she considered what on earth she could do. Then finally coming to a decision she started her car and drove towards her parents home.

As soon as Leonard arrived and saw Angela standing forlornly outside Starbucks, he immediately noted the downcast demeanour of his Daughter, despite her happy greeting towards him, but wisely Leonard decided to say nothing to her despite his worry, leaving it up to Angela if she wanted to tell him if she had a problem.

When they arrived back at the house, April, Angela's twin sister, had already arrived at the house and was enjoying a cup of coffee with her Mother Penny, and after both Mother and Sister had excitedly hugged Angela in greeting, Penny went to get Angela a coffee. Upon her return,they all chatted for a while until Penny, noticing the rain had ceased, rose and excused herself to her daughters and said that she must sweep the driveway now the rain has finished.

"I reckon the rain has done it for you already Mom?", April remarked.

"Oh no dear. I will still need to give it a brush down", Penny explained.

April thought that this was a little odd. But said nothing more to her Mother.

While Penny was busy with her broom,

the two Sisters decided to have a turn around the garden.

And as twins are normally so in sync with their siblings feelings Penny's twins were no different, And each asked the other what was wrong almost simultaneously. So Angela began the conversation by explaining her predicament to April.

"You can always come to Cal-Tech you know, I mean I know Professor Jorgensen's a pain but the others are O.K.", April told Angela when Angela had finished her explanation.

"Well perhaps he could go and join Dr Van Der Kokk, and put all the rotten eggs in one basket so to speak," Angela giggled briefly before becoming serious again, "It's not that specific problem I'm worried about", Angela elucidated,

"It was such a bolt out of the blue that I feel so numb. I seem to have completely lost all my enthusiasm for any research at all", she said sadly.

"So what will you do now?", April asked her. Feeling at a loss to help.

"I'm going to take a break from it all for a while, then hopefully by then I will feel a bit differently", Angela decided.

Then April explained about her problem.

"Honestly, he must think I'm so stupid, we were talking about our romantic holiday together only a couple of days ago, and not one damn hint from him, that he's spent all our savings. I was so looking forward to it and Professor Jorgensen has been a pain in the butt ever since he arrived at the university, and I felt such a fool for him deceiving me like that. I really thought he cared for me to talk to me". Then April broke down in tears.

"Oh sweetie, come on, get revenge not miserable. And perhaps we can send your Professor Jorgenson to work with Dr Karl Van Der Kokk, They would be great together, seeing as how they are both a couple of low life creeps".,Angela suggested.

Then added consolingly, You know Bob does love you very much, I Know, I've seen it on his face when he looks at you", Angela consoled her Sister.

"Yeah, I guess I know he does really, You know he's a good Chef. And I know it's only because he hates that canteen so much.

In fact he downright detests the Cal Tech Nutritionist when she changes the menu every five minutes, and as a last resort, he is trying to find success in something else. Seems anything as long as it will get him out of there", April told her. "But what will it do to him if he finds he's terrible at acting?.

I'm so worried for him, Oh I wish he could have spoken to me first?", April wailed, wringing her hands in anguish and shedding more tears.

"I guess he just feels it's his job to bring the money in and be successful, I don't think your Bob handles failure too well, It's the male ego you see, it's so fragile at times", Angela summed up.

April mulled over Angela's words for a few moments, "So then, just how on earth can I find out how Bob does at his audition without the need for me to talk to him about it?. I mean worrying over him and just letting him think he can walk all over me are two different things, he needs to learn his lesson", April declared firmly.

"Why not give our brother a ring, maybe he might know , him being in the profession and all? ", Angela suggested

"Great idea, I'll call him now

So then, do you think Mom and Dad would mind awfully if I stayed here for a week or two?", April asked her Sister, before she headed for the telephone.

XXXXXXX

As April talked with her brother Wyatt. Penny returned from her labours, telling her daughter, Angela as she entered, that that was that job done for the week, and then Penny headed for a shower and a change of clothes after asking Angela if she wouldn't mind putting the broom away for her.

Angela returned from her assigned task and after she had washed her hands, then feeling peckish, she decided to make herself some french toast, as she had not eaten much in Starbucks, feeling too emotionally disurbed at the recent events.

On opening the fridge to get the eggs she knocked over a bottle of Hidden Valley ranch salad dressing and on righting it, she thought it might be quite nice to have a little salad with her toast too.

But, the simple act of opening the salad compartment door, led Angela to make an unsettling discovery.


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Penny's Ordeal

Angela stared disbelievingly at the contents of the salad compartment,

"My god what on earth is this stuff in here!" she exclaimed loudly, then added a loud "Ugh, disgusting!", for good measure.

At the sound of Angela's cry of horror, April, who had just finished her call to her brother Wyatt, came hurrying over.

April peered into the compartment and uttered the same note of disgust as her twin.

"This stuff looks as if it should have gone in the freezer, and certainly not in here?", April deduced in bewilderment.

"Where's Mom?, I'll have to throw this lot out and clean this refrigerator thoroughly", Angela surmised.

"I think she's still upstairs", April assumed, then in warning to her sister she added, "for crying out loud don't puncture any of the packaging or this kitchen will stink to high heaven".

XXXXX

Leonard entered the kitchen a short while later for a cup of decaf,

( _His Doctor had ordered him to drink, to Leonard's immense displeasure. (He very much missed the caffeine kick he got from the real coffee)_ , only to discover his Daughter furiously scrubbing at the interior of the fridge, while the salad container lay soaking in disgrace in the kitchen sink.

"What are you doing sweetie?", Leonard asked, feeling quite puzzled at her behaviour.

"Well, someone put stuff that was meant to go in the freezer and put it in the salad compartment instead?, and so I've thrown it all out and now I am cleaning out the fridge", Angela explained.

The brief shadow of dread which passed over her Father's face at this news surprised her, and assuming her Father was worrying about supplies, considering his two house guests, that were at present staying there for a while. So she told him that she would be go to the supermarket tomorrow and restock.

"Thanks, that would be great honey, I remember I must have put it in there in a hurry and I guess I just forgot to move it all to the freezer afterwards", Leonard explained.

But his explanation only served to worry Angela. For Leonard was the lousiest of liars, and Angela could immediately tell that he was lying now, but the question was, why?.

XXXXXX

The next morning Angela, had showered and dressed, and went outside to fetch the newspaper for her Father, when Mr Parsons, from two doors down, was taking his black Labrador for it's morning constitutional, He called out a greeting to her, then asked her how her parents were doing.

"Good Morning, they're doing fine thank you Mr Parsons", Angela politely informed him.

"You know your Mom's incredible, I see her out here everyday sweeping this drive, I tell you, I hope I'll be half as fit as your Mother is when I reach my late 70's. Oh well, nice to see you again, I think Buster here is getting impatient. Say Hi to your parents for me", and with Buster straining at his leash, they continued on their way.

It was about mid morning when Angela heard the door bell ring and went to answer it.

There standing on the doorstep was an elderly man, whose appearance was much like everyone's favourite Uncle.

"Hello, Can I help you?", Angela asked politely, then puzzled as she spied over Uncle's right shoulder, her mother busily sweeping the drive again.

"Why yes, I am seeking Dr Angela Hofstadter?, asked Uncle favourite.

When Angela confirmed that Uncle was indeed speaking to her, He showed his I.D. Which Identified him as Arnold Stone, an employee of Uncle Sam and asked if he could come in.

Once they were seated, Arnold came straight to the point.

"I must first offer the sincerest apologies on behalf of the United States Government. While it is a practice to transport raw recruits miles from their base in order to ascertain their level of initiative in making their own way back to base, however it is not our practice to treat civilian employees in the same manner, therefore General Rawlinson's action in this regard has merited his being put on gardening leave forthwith, and you will no doubt be pleased to learn that we have placed Dr Karl Van Der Kokk in charge of the facility". Mr Stone informed Angela.

However rather than being pleased at the news of his appointment, Angela felt like tearing down the walls of the lounge bare handed in anger and frustration that that horrible creepy Kokk had got his own way.

However with not a little effort she managed to hide her anger from Mr Stone.

"So what about the assignment I was working on?, is it to continue?", she asked hopefully.

Arnold composed himself for Angela's reaction before he answered in the negative.

After all if she can create such havoc in the general's office, she might very well turn her frustrations to violence perhaps.

He then went on to explain that he had been informed by the powers that be, that the cancellation of your particular assignment has been cancelled.

"Obviously, since I am not party to such information as to your project, as I do not have the level of security clearance that is required. And I must officially remind you that you cannot under any circumstances discuss the details of your assignment with me, or anyone else for that matter", He warned her sternly.

But Mr Stone's concerns over impending actual bodily harm proved groundless, for Angela had already decided that she would buy a Condo here in Pasadena and then search for suitable employment here in this part of California.

So upon informing Mr Stone that she will not be returning to the facility, she was pleasantly surprised to be told that she would not only receive severance pay but also generous compensation, and upon enquiring she was pleased to be told that Jane would also be awarded similarly.

After Mr Stone had left, Angela approached her Mother, who was still wielding her broom vigorously, (for a 78 year old woman that is).

"Hi Mom, I thought you swept this yesterday?, Angela asked in bewilderment.

"No dear, I always sweep the drive down once a week, her Mother Penny told her in a manner one uses, as speaking to a child.

And at that moment Angela recalled Mr Parsons telling her that it was on a daily basis that sees her mother sweeping the drive down. And in the same moment Angela knew who it was who had put the frozen food in the salad compartment. Angela felt sick at this revelation, her mother was clearly suffering from a form of dementia, which really made rather small beer of Angela's own troubles.

She quickly left her Mother to her sweeping and went to find her Father, hoping perhaps then together they might be able to get some help for her Mother, after all there is now a drug available that produces excellent results these days.

She found her Father in the kitchen, pouring himself a cup of coffee. She waited until Leonard had got settled, and then, taking a deep breath, before proceeding to tell him,

"Dad, the frozen food in the fridge, it was Mon that put it in there wasn't it".

Leonard looked up at her, ready to deny what Angela had discovered. But at the determined look on his daughter's face Leonard's shoulders sagged in defeat, then he confessed sadly,

"Your Mom has dementia, She thinks that's where the frozen food goes. I try to move it quickly into the freezer without her seeing me as it makes her get so stressed, but I guess I forgot this time. You see Mon and I, well we didn't want you guys to worry, you have your own lives to lead and we thought we could manage it. But I'm afraid your Mom's condition has deteriorated faster than I had expected".

Angela crouched and took her father's hands in her own.

"It's OK Dad. Listen there's a drug available now, we'll get it for Mom and she will be a lot better," she told him encouragingly.

But to her surprise Leonard's face fell.

"Mom's already tried it. It just gave her severe migraines and dizziness. And now I don't think there is anything else we can do?" Leonard admitted, now very near to tears.

Completely shaken at this shocking revelation that her Mon could not be helped. Angela needed to sit down and considered what herself, her sister and her brother could do to help her Mom and Dad to cope with Penny's dementia. Clearly a family conference was needed, and fast.

But before she could arrange that meeting. Angela would have to take the unpleasant task of breaking the devastating news of her Mother's condition to her older sister Honey Marie first. And as Geneva was 9 hours ahead of California time it would be too late to ring if she left it any later.

XXXXXXX

Honey Marie placed her phone back on her desk and shakenly sat slumped in her chair staring blankly at the monitor, no longer even being aware of the masses of data displayed upon it.

Her Mom was always there whenever Honey Marie needed her.

Anger suddenly welled up inside her as she thought back to the last three months of scanning data, looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack, several haystacks in fact.

' _We need to be quite certain that nothing important is missed',_ number one had informed her as they had found no results from the automatic detection programs. And now they were reduced to scanning the data again, this time physically.

And all that time her Mon needed her.

Then, on coming to a solution, she cleared the data off her screen and began looking up for the earliest flight to LA. From Geneva.

Clearly her Mom needed her more than CERN did. And now for Honey Marie it was time to go back home.

XXXXXXX

It was no surprise to Angela, at her sister's distress once the awful news about her mother had sunk in. After all they had always been a close family. She collected her purse and her phone and began to make her way towards the front door, when her mother met her in the hall after washing her hands from her task outside.

"Are you going out sweetie?", Penny asked her daughter.

"Just off to the supermarket, I need a few things", Angela told her mother guardedly.

"I wonder if you could give me a lift to 'Christine's'?, I'm afraid my hair is such a mess, and she always does it how I like it, you see". Penny asked hopefully, even now still concerned over her appearance.

"Sure Mom, be glad to", Angela said, feeling rather relieved that her mother had no intention whatsoever on coming with her to the supermarket.

However, little did Angela know how much her mother's condition had deteriorated. As she was about to find out.

As Angela exited E Colorado Blvd and entered W Colorado Blvd, Penny suddenly asked if Angela had forgotten to drop her off at Christine's hair salon.

"No Mom I hadn't forgotten. We are going there now as a matter of fact", Angela replied.

"No sweetie, you've gone right past it", Penny told her daughter.

"Mom, I know where it is. It's just off S Pasadena Avenue", Angela replied, and now feeling rather confused, as Julie had moved her salon there ten years ago.

"Don't be silly sweetie, you know it's just a block past the cheesecake factory. I should know I've been going there for years, ever since I started working at the factory", Penny informed her. And wondering if there was anything the matter with her daughter that would make her forget.

Angela, rather than cause her mother any more grief turned the car around and headed for Fair Oaks Ave hoping perhaps that when her mother saw Christine's salon was no longer there, then her mother might recall that Julie had moved.

On seeing that Angela had turned round, Penny began to relax, and smiled as she looked forward to having her hair put back the way Leonard liked it.

Angela turned into Fair Oak Avenue and pulled up outside the store where Christine's salon used to be. Only it was now another ethnic Diner, like many others along the avenue.

But instead of producing the required result, Penny became even more confused and cried out in distress, "No! This isn't right", and before Angela could stop her Penny rushed into the diner.

"If I could help madam to a seat", asked the waiter, as Penny brushed past him now thinking that Angela was playing a trick on her mom.

Angela caught her mother before she could rush headlong into the kitchens. But this only served to make Penny more stressed.

"No Please, I know Christine is back there. Why are you stopping me?".

The Waiter seeing the shocked faces on the small number of diners, sternly insisted that Angela take this crazy woman away and quickly.

"Please, if you don't mind? you are disturbing my customers", he said, while getting more irate by the second

And then through the combination of the dementia, her age and her distress.

Penny began sobbing and lapsed into an emotional state. And began speaking as if she were a young child.

"Leonard, want Leonard", Penny begged, by now in floods of tears.

Angela struggled to get her mom out of the diner. And what with her own distress at her mother's upset, her own anger blazing at the waiter's callous uncaring attitude. she slapped the man hard round his face.

After the shock of being slapped passed over, the waiter began to utter threats of police action over Angela's assault against him, but was then stunned into silence by the sudden round of applause from the diners at Angela's action.

"Have a heart Buddy, one day that could be you", said one diner.

While yet another informed him that that would be the last time she would ever eat in here, before she helped Angela to calm Penny down and assisted Penny into the car.

While at the same time glaring at the rubber necks on the side walk as she did so,

Before admitting a little tearfully to Angela that she had recently lost her own dear father to that awful dementia two months ago.

Angela smiled at her new ally and thanked the woman profusely.

Then smiled to herself as she noted through the restaurant window another diner animatedly speaking to someone, while indicating the waiter.

And Angela guessed correctly that the diner was in fact speaking to the restaurant Manager.

Now that Penny was safely seated and belted, Angela quickly retrieved her phone and gave her Father a heads up concerning his wife's predicament.

XXXXXX

Leonard, his mind now in a turmoil, placed his phone back on his desk.

He kept thinking back to Dr Biles, a brilliant Physicist, who was also a victim of this dreadful illness.

The thing that worried Leonard the most was the fact that Dr Biles had been married for over forty years and towards the last five years of his life. He considered the woman that was his dear wife, to be the housekeeper.

If Penny ever forgot Leonard in the same manner, Leonard had no idea how on earth he would be able to cope.

Angela turned into her parents street with some relief as her mom was still quite upset.

And barely had the car rolled to a stop on the newly swept drive, when a sobbing Penny rushed into Leonard's arms

Leonard gently soothed, then helped his emotionally shattered wife into the house, leaving a shaken Angela to once again, depart for the supermarket.

The trip to the market though went without incident, and Angela seized the opportunity to put away her purchases while an emotionally exhausted Penny was asleep on her bed.

When the time came for April to return home from Cat-tech Angela went to meet her outside.

She waited while Angela exited her car and locked it, and was just about to relate to April about Penny's ordeal.

When before Angela could say a thing.

April suddenly burst into tears and rushed past her sister into the house.

Angela stood there stunned, and thought to herself, "Boy? This day just gets better and better."


End file.
